Keith Malone wrote:

>If I may ask Keith Benson if he can tell this group of what happened this
>year with the bees he keeps (some large cell bees and some small cell bees)
>during what beekeepers in his area of South Carolina called a nectar dearth?
>
Hi Keith, sure can.  I saw far more activity and foraging in the small
cell bees.  Bear in mind though that these bees are not fully regressed
so I am not talking about bees that you or Dee would call small cell
bees.  Lets call them "smaller" bees . . . ;)

IIRC I added the caveat to this that the small cell colonies were all
still expanding where 2/3 or the large cell colonies were from the year
before and not actively expanding.  I was not certain if the "small"
bees were working harder because they felt they had too.  I hope to have
more observations in the next 2-5 years.  My "n" is microscopic, but I
am just playing around and would not consider my info more than
anecdotal.  No harm, no foul and no making statements that sound like
fact when they are simply opinion.  I am hoping (and I can, cause I am
simply playing at this and can continue to follow a pipe dream if I feel
like it!) that Dee's observation that small cell bees access a wider
variety of forage and extend the foraging window in a part of the
country with a short flow.

>Also Keith, your in SC just like Dave, Do you feed your bees or do you leave
>honey on for the nectar dearths?
>
I leave the honey on.  But I am not a commercial guy and can do whatever
I darn well please.  I do not refrain from feeding sugar due to the
notion that it is nutritionally less sound.  If one of my colonies was
starving I would feed it.

>Keith,"Breaking the rules here in Alaska keeping bees alive in winter and
>not
>feeding sugar syrup for our six to seven month winter nectar dearth." Malone
>
You go buddy,

BTW - did you get the articles?

Keith

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