Message from defra

Got an e-mail from defra about varroa and if they need feeding give them 1-1 syrup, I thought it should be 2-1 this time of year

The only thing to feed varroa at this time of year is thymol

will said:

Got an e-mail from defra about varroa and if they need feeding give them 1-1 syrup, I thought it should be 2-1 this time of year

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I think they refer to short term shortage of stores, ie they need food to use NOW and therefore 1:1 is appropriate.

Winter feeding (done in Autumn) is actually to provide stores for them to survive the Winter on and that is when 2:1 is required.

Erichalfbee said:

The only thing to feed varroa at this time of year is thymol

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If feeding needs to be carried out use either inverted sugar syrup or a 1:1 solution, i.e. 1kg of granulated white sugar: 650ml water.

If that is Fera's instructions, then it should be carried out to the letter!


James

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start

James Templer said:

If feeding needs to be carried out use either inverted sugar syrup or a 1:1 solution, i.e. 1kg of granulated white sugar: 650ml water.

If that is Fera's instructions, then it should be carried out to the letter!


James

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Bwah ha ha ha

Here is the full text....................

We have received reports from our Appointed Bee Inspectors that many colonies are showing signs of high Varroa infestations and consequently bee deformities.
If you have not already done so, it may be worthwhile to treat your colony with a registered varroacide. When administering a treatment, please use a registered veterinary product and ensure that the label is followed and not deviated from. Beekeepers may find a list of registered products in our advisory leaflet, ‘Managing Varroa’ https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=167
After colonies have been treated, beekeepers should then reduce colony entrances and assess whether feeding needs to be carried out. Lift the roof off of the colony and heft the hive from each side of the brood box. If the colony has sufficient stores, then it should be difficult to lift. Each colony should have between 20-25 kg of stores for the winter.
If feeding needs to be carried out use either inverted sugar syrup or a 1:1 ? solution, i.e. 1kg of granulated white sugar: 650ml water.
Please note that if any of your colonies are showing signs of both Varroa damage and lack of food, it may be useful to feed and treat simultaneously. This should not be done if there is a honey flow on, only in emergency cases.


Think the 1:1 is a typo & should read 2:1, the 1kg to 650ml mix they recommend is a recipe for thick/heavy/2:1 syrup

One of these days DEFRA will get something right !!

pargyle said:

One of these days DEFRA will get something right !!

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And ban the import of honey bees to our septic isles ( excluding Scotland!)

Humor !

James

You cant ban bees coming into our country just because they are not British, whatever next

Sent from my GT-S5570 using Tapatalk 2

Glad this was spotted, because I thought I was going nuts!

when I read 1:1!

New Beeks, will probably read it and get it wrong!

Another automatically generated email - they really don't have a clue do they? and if anyone remembers they also recommended spring emergency feeding - using 2:1 syrup.

Just a new email...

NBU Amendment to Ratio Published.

The NBU would like to apologise for the incorrect ratio published in last week’s email, and for any potential confusion this might have caused. In the alert, it stated that winter feed should be prepared as a 1:1 ratio of 1kg sugar: 650ml of water = 2lb to 1 pint. These measurements are correct, but this ratio is actually 2:1.

"Thick" sugar syrup used for winter feeding is made up in a 2:1 ratio of granulated sugar to water (2 lb sugar to 1 pint of water, or 2 kg to 1 litre). This produces 62 % by weight of sugar. We hope this clarifies.

(or 2 kg to 1 litre). This produces 62 % by weight of sugar. We hope this clarifies.

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Eh? 66% surely? A 62% sugar solution has 1225 ml water for 2kg sugar according to my maths.

einsteinagogo said:

Just a new email...

NBU Amendment to Ratio Published.

The NBU would like to apologise for the incorrect ratio published in last week’s email, and for any potential confusion this might have caused. In the alert, it stated that winter feed should be prepared as a 1:1 ratio of 1kg sugar: 650ml of water = 2lb to 1 pint. These measurements are correct, but this ratio is actually 2:1.

"Thick" sugar syrup used for winter feeding is made up in a 2:1 ratio of granulated sugar to water (2 lb sugar to 1 pint of water, or 2 kg to 1 litre). This produces 62 % by weight of sugar. We hope this clarifies.

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Don't tell me that Defra are reading the forum ???? There's hope for them yet if they are ... I was going to suggest they rename themselves Deafra - pehaps not now ?

Jimmy said:

Eh? 66% surely? A 62% sugar solution has 1225 ml water for 2kg sugar according to my maths.

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66.666 ad infinitum to be excact...

thenovice said:

66.666 ad infinitum to be excact...

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So do you add the infinutum before or after the water (and is it the same as thymol emulsion?

We pay their wages!

In March 2014 they emailed a 'starvation alert' warning because of mild weather.

In March 2013 they emailed a 'starvation alert' warning because of poor weather.

...any guesses for March 2015 ?

richardbees said:

We pay their wages!

In March 2014 they emailed a 'starvation alert' warning because of mild weather.

In March 2013 they emailed a 'starvation alert' warning because of poor weather.

...any guesses for March 2015 ?

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A starvation warning regardless of the weather !