No Honey

Mason · June 15, 2009, 12:49:23 PM

Hello Bee People,

I have two new hives that got a late start this year.

I recently took my bees off syrup. Upon examination this weekend there was little to no honey stores in either of my hives. I put them back on the syrup.

I see the bees coming and going but don't notice them working any of the obvious blooms in my yard which are not much of anything. Plenty of brood eggs to capped but no honey.

Just keep feeding?

Cockatoo · June 15, 2009, 12:55:26 PM

My friend Ralph told me to stop feeding and make them WORK.
Otherwise they'll just eat and sit out on the porch.
So I followed his advice and got over 3 gallons of honey in 3 months!
And I'm just up the road from you.

Scadsobees · June 15, 2009, 01:32:31 PM

New hives from packages?
How much comb do they have drawn out?

New packages can be fed till they have 2 deeps mostly drawn. If you are familiar with your honeyflows you can stop if you have a good one going.

If you are worried and they don't have much, then go for it, it won't hurt at this point, I don't think.

Whether they have flowers or feeders they are going to work, they just can get more done faster if the nectar is sitting on the porch ;).

Rick

Kathyp · June 15, 2009, 01:34:46 PM

Quotejust up the road from you.

just up the road can make a big difference. better to feed if there are no stores. a starved hive is a sad thing to see.

Mason · June 15, 2009, 02:10:13 PM

Lots of action,

the bees seem to be coming and going furiously although I do not see them working the obvious flowers in my yard. Squash, roses, etc. They take off and are off to parts unknown. I did have honey stores until I took them off the syrup about 10 days ago.

Both brood chambers are 90% built out. One hive has built out most of one medium super but it's empty comb. Lots of bees, lots of brood.

How do you know if your bees are starving other than there is no honey stores?

Kathyp · June 15, 2009, 02:50:38 PM

if you have a good flow and the queen is laying really well, they may be using what they bring in quickly. even so, you should be seeing some stored started, even if it's only nectar and pollen.

feeding may have stimulated more brood than you would otherwise have. that's a good thing when you are building up the hive, but may not be so good if you are not feeding and there is not enough out there for them.

i think i would wait a week. some of the brood will have hatched. the bees will have adjusted to less food. check and see what it looks like. if you see any bees head first in empty cells, or you see no stores for the brood they are raising, you might want to feed again. maybe cut it back, or do remote feeding. by that i mean put the food source away from the hives. i use a poultry feeder with rocks in the dish. 50 ft away or so if you can. this way they can supplement what they are bringing in, but won't just depend on your source.

Mason · June 15, 2009, 03:03:34 PM

There is NO stored honey or pollen. Less than 1%. It's either brood or an empty cell. I did notice that there were bees head first in empty cells. What does that mean?

I suppose I will feed them for a few days to give them a helping hand and then try remote feeding.

Kathyp · June 15, 2009, 03:06:07 PM

it means they are hungry or past hungry to starving. feed.

DrKurtG · June 15, 2009, 06:02:13 PM

Hello all - Man, I haven't read or posted in a long time. I have jumped from one hive to six hives since last year: 1-package, 3-nucs, 1-caught swarm. I live in southwestern Virginia. All hives are extremely active. Large clouds of bees entering and exiting. Each hive is going through about a pint and a half of sugar water each day! At this time last year, I had harvested about two supers of honey. So far - nothing. They are starting to pull comb in the supers however, so maybe in a week or two! :)

Michael Bush · June 15, 2009, 09:44:38 PM

Anytime they are out of stores I would feed.

Brian D. Bray · June 18, 2009, 01:48:52 AM

Quote from: Mason on June 15, 2009, 03:03:34 PM
There is NO stored honey or pollen. Less than 1%. It's either brood or an empty cell. I did notice that there were bees head first in empty cells. What does that mean?

I suppose I will feed them for a few days to give them a helping hand and then try remote feeding.

It means the hive(s) is putting all it's resources into building population to better build stores. Augment their foraging with feeding a pint-quart per day until you see honey stores start to develop. It will suddenly explode with honey when the population gets large so have your supers ready.