Puzzled by something: I checked my 2 new hives this Sunday and the one had
totally
ignored the fumadil-laced syrup placed in a nice hive top feeder (one of
these professionally made ones, in a shallow super, with the plastic feeder
trays, the screened area that separates the bees from the the beekeeper etc.).
Yet the other hive had consumed syrup from inverted mason jars with
holes poked in the end? I was baffled at the rejection of the hive top
feeder? I did not insert a top board between the bees and the hive-top
feeder, so they had complete access from the frame tops.
 
I'm puzzled why one hive would take the syrup, yet the other wouldn't.
Does the slight farther distance to the source have a significant meaning?
It is perhaps 1 to 1.5 inches from the frame tops to the inverted jar top.
Is the "upright" feeding stance preferable to bees, versus the "inverted"
position they must take to drink from a hive top feeder.
It is perhaps 3-4 inches from the frame tops to the opening of the hive
top feeder, where the bees then climb down on the screen to take in the
syrup in an inverted position. Is that "too far to walk" or does the
inverted feeding stance of the bee also have some impact on their interest
in taking the syrup?
 
Ed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Sterling, GPCC       | ACTUAL quotes from my kids: "Daddy, hummingbirds
Bolton, MA 01740 USA    | help the bees put honey in the flowers!" "In the
Phone/FAX: 508-779-6058 | daytime, the sun melts the moon into cloudpieces!"
 "[log in to unmask]" | "A snowman makes the quietest sounds in the world"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wish you had a favorite childhood toy from the 1950s/60s/70s back again?
Barbie? GI Joe? Fanner 50? Girder and Panel? See http://www.ultranet.com/~ed