On Tue, 21 May 1996, Tim Peters wrote:
 
> Hello Everyone:
>
>         Although it is somewhat moot this late in the season, a question
has
> cropped
>         up in my mind.
>
>         This year, for the first time, my girls were dis-interested in the
> sugar syrup
 
 
And Vince Cappola added:
 
>       I have noticed quite a few colonies that will not take syrup
>since last fall. At that time I was feeding corn syrup with fumidil, even
>some strong colonies ingnored the feed long after the last flow. Same
>this spring. These colonies have gone downhill while the ones accepting
>feed have built normaly.
 
    I think one of the most valuable lessons I learned during the heyday of
tracheal mite, is: "Do not nurse along junk!     Cull it."
 
   One of the first symptoms of sick bees is that they will not take feed
(and there is no flow going on).  Despite all efforts, these bees will
dwindle.  They may limp along for an entire season before demise, but they
will not be productive.
 
   If the bees are still strong, you may want to postpone the decision, for a
bit, but you should be checking them carefully, and be hardnosed about
culling, if they are not recovering.   If you are not convinced they are
sick, recheck often and evaluate.  Compare their buildup/production with
other hives.  Smell them.  Are they sweet smelling or do they have a faint
sour smell?  Do the bees look clean, and nice, or are there a lot of greasy
looking bees?  Are the cappings light and fresh looking, or are they dark and
greasy?  Does the brood look healthy?  Or are there pupae developing without
caps, missing brood in a lot of cells, chalkbrood, sacbrood, EFB.  Many of
the bee diseases are linked to genetic weaknesses.
 
   There are a lot of other possibilities here, too, so it may confuse the
issue.  There could be an old failing queen, a young poorly fed, or poorly
mated queen, pesticide stored away in pollen, lack of quality pollen feed,
etc.
 
   But, if there is a real question, I would requeen immediately, if early in
the season, or combine with a good colony, after killing the queen from the
poor one, if late in the season.  Breed queens from your best stock, or buy
from a trustworthy breeder.
 
   I have no proof of the following thought, but would like to pass it along
for consideration.  I suspect we may be to blame for some of this genetic
weakness.  I am referring to our attempts to breed out swarminess from bees.
 About six years ago, I switched from trying to eliminate swarminess, to
using swarm cells at every opportunity, (assuming other characteristics were
suitable), and the bees seem to be responding very positively.  I have a very
intense spring season, as I have to practice a lot of swarm management, but
the bees look very nice this year, and they have been highly productive.
 Swarming is so natural to bees that attempts to limit it may well be
counterproductive. We forget that this is their native mode of reproduction.
 
   (We are not oriented to honey production, and I have never considered this
area very good for honey production, but we set a personal record this spring
in southwestern South Carolina, with 1 1/2 tons of honey removed from 19
hives, the bulk of that produced by a dozen.  The yard average is not so
special, as there were a couple deadouts, a couple weak ones, and about 6
that never went through the excluder, but swarmed instead.  I was using
pretty old, dry comb in the supers, and discovered again how important is was
to put a couple of frames of honey or brood above the excluder to bait them
through it.)
 
   The bees going out to vine pollination look very good (at least until the
cotton spraying starts).  We are impressed and encouraged by their strength
and activity.
 
   Well I've got to go get some fresh queens.  I was out of queens yesterday,
and I marked two with chalkbrood for requeening.  I hope they came in.
 
   We have about one more hard day of moving bees ahead, then a few odds and
ends to finish up spring pollination.  Melons, cukes, and squash look very
nice.  We were in a real dry spell and there was a lot of wilting going on,
but we've now had some good rains and the plants are all smiling.
 
   Up  north now, y'all ask for well-pollinated melons.  If the produce man
looks blank, tell him how the bees put the sweetness in them. If they come
from South Carolina, there's a good chance my bees did them.  Now, if they
taste awful, and gas you up, and have a lot of white unpollinated seeds, my
bees didn't do it.  The farmer didn't get them.
 
   I'd like to put on a sticker that says:  BEE SWEET - A Well-Pollinated
Melon, (with a picture of a honey dipper oozing honey), so people will know
that the ones that got 15 or 20 visits by a bee will be nice and sweet.
 
   I want a melon that you serve ice cold, and it splits ahead of the knife.
 Ummmm.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554
 
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