what would you do

pargyle · Dec 27, 2014

irishguy said:
As for the hives, I haven't opened or hefted them yet. I was at them earlier just having a look but no bees on the movement. Reason whybi hadn't hefted or opened is I hadn't got my foundent because it occurred to me, is it ordinary foundant needed for icing cakes or certain stuff for bees. I know this might seem a silly question to some but best to ask just incase. How much of it will I need and can I just give them it anyway for safe measure or can it give me problems if I just lump it in if they didn't need it.

Good ... For once you are spot on !! If you put your ear to the hive you can usually hear a low hum .. there are those on here that advocate tapping the hive to listen for the buzz but I've never needed to. With your insulated hives I would think that on a sunny day you should see them out on cleansing flights and you will know they are OK.

If you have some idea of the hive weight going in to winter (by hefting) and feel they need feeding then ordinary bakers fondant is fine ... various methods of giving it to them. The two most popular are:

a> Roll it out into a flat sheet, either put it in a plastic bag or cling film and put a couple of knife slashes in one side, lift the crown board and slap it straight on top of the framed (the side with the cuts in it pointing down).

b> Put it in a see through takeway carton, cut a hole in the bottom, put the lid on and put it over the feeder hole in the crown board. You can the see if they are eating it and running out - adding more is easy through the lid. Obvously you will need an eke or a super on the top of the hive for this method and I would suggest that you put insulation around the container and above it.

Won't do immense harm to feed them if they don't need it as they may well not take it down but better if you only feed when it's necessary. Whats the weather like over there ?

jenkinsbrynmair · Dec 27, 2014

irishguy said:
is it ordinary foundant needed for icing cakes or certain stuff for bees.

It's ordinary fondant - but baker's fondant not the stuff you buy from the supermarket for icing cakes - you get it in 12 kilo slabs and should cost around ten pounds (whatever that is in disney money) go to your local baker and sk nicely, can't see any problem him getting you a box or two with his next delivery.

irishguy · Dec 27, 2014

pargyle said:
Good ... For once you are spot on !! If you put your ear to the hive you can usually hear a low hum .. there are those on here that advocate tapping the hive to listen for the buzz but I've never needed to. With your insulated hives I would think that on a sunny day you should see them out on cleansing flights and you will know they are OK.

If you have some idea of the hive weight going in to winter (by hefting) and feel they need feeding then ordinary bakers fondant is fine ... various methods of giving it to them. The two most popular are:

a> Roll it out into a flat sheet, either put it in a plastic bag or cling film and put a couple of knife slashes in one side, lift the crown board and slap it straight on top of the framed (the side with the cuts in it pointing down).

b> Put it in a see through takeway carton, cut a hole in the bottom, put the lid on and put it over the feeder hole in the crown board. You can the see if they are eating it and running out - adding more is easy through the lid. Obvously you will need an eke or a super on the top of the hive for this method and I would suggest that you put insulation around the container and above it.

Won't do immense harm to feed them if they don't need it as they may well not take it down but better if you only feed when it's necessary. Whats the weather like over there ?

The weather has been mild for this time of year thou still a few nights its went -0. Been raining a lot in last week or 2. On monday its to be sunny and in and around 4 degrees. Maybe leave it till Mon seeing that's the best day ahead

irishguy · Dec 27, 2014

jenkinsbrynmair said:
It's ordinary fondant - but baker's fondant not the stuff you buy from the supermarket for icing cakes - you get it in 12 kilo slabs and should cost around ten pounds (whatever that is in disney money) go to your local baker and sk nicely, can't see any problem him getting you a box or two with his next delivery.

If cost £10 over there then it'll be €60 on west coast of Ireland if going by price of other stuff here

I'll pop intp town tomorrow to see if any is open and try get some of them.

rolande · Dec 28, 2014

pargyle said:
If you have some idea of the hive weight going in to winter (by hefting)

That's a piece of string of indeterminate length based on your comments in posts 335 and 337! We all know that even small nucs should have that heavier-than-they-look feel at the start of winter. Hefting them at that time should be a little like trying to turn a good quality wrestler or judoka upside down even if we know that they're not physically big enough to hold that much weight. Hefting them now, he needs to know his bees and their behaviour as much as his weights.

irishguy · Jan 12, 2015

Feed all 3 hIves today with 750mg fondant each. Bought the 750 tubs of local bee supplier, took from tubs and wrapped in cling film. Fed the first hive(nuc in hive) , lifted insulation off, lifted crown board of really fast and slapped the fondant over where i seen bees moving about then put crown board and insulation back quickly.

Next up was hive 2, took insulation and crown board off and slapped the fondant down on top of bees, thou couldn't close crown board properly and put insulation back on top.

Then onto last hive, lifted insulation off and because couldn't close crown board in last hive, i just opened up the feed hole and laid fondant over hole. When taking cover off hole bees where trying to escape but managed to keep them all in.

Went back to 2nd hive, lifted insulation and crown board off, removed fondant, put crown-board back and left over feed hole like in hive 3.

pargyle · Jan 13, 2015

irishguy said:
Feed all 3 hIves today with 750mg fondant each. Bought the 750 tubs of local bee supplier, took from tubs and wrapped in cling film. Fed the first hive(nuc in hive) , lifted insulation off, lifted crown board of really fast and slapped the fondant over where i seen bees moving about then put crown board and insulation back quickly.

Next up was hive 2, took insulation and crown board off and slapped the fondant down on top of bees, thou couldn't close crown board properly and put insulation back on top.

Then onto last hive, lifted insulation off and because couldn't close crown board in last hive, i just opened up the feed hole and laid fondant over hole. When taking cover off hole bees where trying to escape but managed to keep them all in.

Went back to 2nd hive, lifted insulation and crown board off, removed fondant, put crown-board back and left over feed hole like in hive 3.

You did remember to put a few knife slashes in the cling film didn't you ?

irishguy · Jan 17, 2015

pargyle said:
You did remember to put a few knife slashes in the cling film didn't you ?

Yeah, few knife marks in all them. I don't know if this will effect the bees but when putting crownboard and insulation back on, I think some fell on top of the bees because when tightening the straps, I could hear the bees weren't to happy which made me think some fondant has dripped onto them.

pargyle · Jan 17, 2015

irishguy said:
Yeah, few knife marks in all them. I don't know if this will effect the bees but when putting crownboard and insulation back on, I think some fell on top of the bees because when tightening the straps, I could hear the bees weren't to happy which made me think some fondant has dripped onto them.

Probably just grumbling because you opened them up .. if there was a bit dripped down onto the frames the odds are that they will clear it up ... just check, next time you are up there, that the fondant hasn't dribbled down through the hive and through the mesh floor ... we had that happen to another forum member a week or two ago as a result of runny fondant.

irishguy · Feb 11, 2015

pargyle said:
Probably just grumbling because you opened them up .. if there was a bit dripped down onto the frames the odds are that they will clear it up ... just check, next time you are up there, that the fondant hasn't dribbled down through the hive and through the mesh floor ... we had that happen to another forum member a week or two ago as a result of runny fondant.

Checked 2 hives yesterday and bees haven't touched the fondant. Im wondering is it because they couldn't get it because I probably didn't put pierced part over the holes but I'm near sure I did because I could have swarn that I heard some drip onto the bees. I made a few new slices in the cling film exactly over the hole just to be sure again. I haven't noticed any new dead bees on mesh floor and did see lots of wax cappings on timber under the hives on ground.

As for the bees, I was abit worried about them because I couldnt tend to them since my last post because ive been flat out working(started a new business) but had it in my head that they ate all the fondant and the hole in crown board would have created a terrible draft. Thankfully I was wrong when I seen they hadn't touched the fondant. When I've time I'm going to make a few new crown boards with half inch gap so if bees eat away at fondant, no other insects can get in because noticed a few sitting between crown board and insulation

pargyle · Feb 11, 2015

I wouldn't worry ... you left loads of honey in your hives and the reality is that they will only go for the fondant if they need it ... and with it above the crownboard over the hole they may not even find it anyway. You have loads of insulation on your hives and there is very little that can be done without disturbing them so really best left alone for the time being ...if you are worried then put a clean inspection board in for a couple of days... if they are alive you should see some debris on the board and it will even tell you whereabouts in the hive the cluster is. If it comes out spotless you might have a problem and you can decide whether it's worth having a look. Mine are flying when the sun comes out so if you get a sunny afternoon see if you can get down there and see if there are any bees flying. I'm sure they will be fine ...patience ....

user 6228 · Feb 11, 2015

irishguy said:
Checked 2 hives yesterday and bees haven't touched the fondant. Im wondering is it because they couldn't get it because I probably didn't put pierced part over the holes but I'm near sure I did because I could have swarn that I heard some drip onto the bees. I made a few new slices in the cling film exactly over the hole just to be sure again. I haven't noticed any new dead bees on mesh floor and did see lots of wax cappings on timber under the hives on ground.

As for the bees, I was abit worried about them because I couldnt tend to them since my last post because ive been flat out working(started a new business) but had it in my head that they ate all the fondant and the hole in crown board would have created a terrible draft. Thankfully I was wrong when I seen they hadn't touched the fondant. When I've time I'm going to make a few new crown boards with half inch gap so if bees eat away at fondant, no other insects can get in because noticed a few sitting between crown board and insulation

with high levels of insulation consumption of fondant by this time of year can be very low e.g. barely nibbled at. <100g

irishguy · Feb 11, 2015

pargyle said:
I wouldn't worry ... you left loads of honey in your hives and the reality is that they will only go for the fondant if they need it ... and with it above the crownboard over the hole they may not even find it anyway. You have loads of insulation on your hives and there is very little that can be done without disturbing them so really best left alone for the time being ...if you are worried then put a clean inspection board in for a couple of days... if they are alive you should see some debris on the board and it will even tell you whereabouts in the hive the cluster is. If it comes out spotless you might have a problem and you can decide whether it's worth having a look. Mine are flying when the sun comes out so if you get a sunny afternoon see if you can get down there and see if there are any bees flying. I'm sure they will be fine ...patience ....

The bees are fine, I looked under the hive and soon as they noticed me, they started to come down to the mesh floor. I quickly retreated thou as I seen movement because didn't want to disturb them much. I will leave taking insulation off for a month and forget about adding another crown board for now because if bees don't touch it, that'll keep the hole closed up from insects entering hive.

derekm said:
with high levels of insulation consumption of fondant by this time of year can be very low e.g. barely nibbled at. <100g

Sounds good.

Davelin · Feb 11, 2015

irishguy said:
Checked 2 hives yesterday and bees haven't touched the fondant. Im wondering is it because they couldn't get it because I probably didn't put pierced part over the holes but I'm near sure I did because I could have swarn that I heard some drip onto the bees. (

What sort of noise does that make then??

irishguy · Feb 11, 2015

Davelin said:
What sort of noise does that make then??

What way do you think it sounded, it was like Drip drip buuzzzzz buuzzzzz, :willy_nilly:

All jokes aside thou, it was probably the bees buzzing that I got confused with when putting crown board on

irishguy · Mar 7, 2015

Been flat out working and haven't had a chance to get check the hives or even look to see if there's any flying in or out. I'm laid up sick with vomiting bug as well all day but might go check them tomorrow if I'm not feeling to bad so just bumping this to ask what can be done or will I leave them be for another while.

pargyle · Mar 7, 2015

irishguy said:
Been flat out working and haven't had a chance to get check the hives or even look to see if there's any flying in or out. I'm laid up sick with vomiting bug as well all day but might go check them tomorrow if I'm not feeling to bad so just bumping this to ask what can be done or will I leave them be for another while.

Stand and watch them flying ... if they are all flying ... leave them be ...if they are not flying ... leave them be. Heft to make sure they still have stores though I suspect with the amount of honey you left and the insulation you have you will be harvesting a crop in late April when it get's warm enough over there to open up.

Try not to puke on them .... :puke:

irishguy · Mar 7, 2015

pargyle said:
Stand and watch them flying ... if they are all flying ... leave them be ...if they are not flying ... leave them be. Heft to make sure they still have stores though I suspect with the amount of honey you left and the insulation you have you will be harvesting a crop in late April when it get's warm enough over there to open up.

Try not to puke on them ....

That's if I even make it to them, spued a pint of veggie juice all over the place earlier. I thought somehow the nutrition would help me, by feck I was wrong

Yeah I'll leave be until April but will do as you suggest tomorrow or Monday. TBH I forgot all about the bees because have been flat out working with my new business and only remembered about them as ive been laid out all day in bed.

inthewoods · Mar 7, 2015

how can you forget you have bee's.

irishguy · Mar 7, 2015

inthewoods said:
how can you forget you have bee's.

When your flat out with a new business, trust me ya forget. I did anyway.

what would you do

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