Syrup coated bees ... is there anything that can save them?

GeezzzBeezzz · April 29, 2012, 11:22:40 PM

Recently I bought a hivetop feeder with the center opening and screen to help the bees climb in and out.
Today I checked on it to see how the bees were taking to it. They seem to like it.
But I soon spotted a problem. I noticed there were some bees that had fallen into the syrup. Some were still alive so I decided to scoop them out and lay them near the hive entrance in the hope that the other bees would give them a cleaning. There were only around 10-15 of them but I wanted to help them out. Some had their wings stuck to their backs and others had their legs stuck to their body etc.
Some were able to crawl back into the hive after I placed them near the opening. Others weren't so lucky and just gave up struggling.
Will the bees in the hive clean the syrup coated bees off or will they just end up - well dead like the others???
Just curious.

Also there were around 15 dead bees in the syrup. It's a small colony just installed them a couple of weeks ago - what's the going drowning rate for a hive top feeder? :?

LoriMNnice · April 29, 2012, 11:38:36 PM

I have read that top hive feeders do drown some bees and I think I read somewhere that others have added some sort of floats like sticks etc so the bees have something to climb on besides just the screen. As for the cleaning off part I don't know the answer.

BlueBee · April 30, 2012, 12:05:41 AM

I hear you Geezzz. I've tried to rescue bees stuck in syrup before as well. You probably did as much as you can. I also put the bees on the entrance and let them walk in. Don't know what happened to those bees once inside the hive, but I bet they lived. In the grand scheme of things, 15 bees doesn't mean much. The queen will lay that many new bees in about 10 minutes. I don't like to see any bees die, but it happens, you just have to get used to that fact. Bees die in feeders, they get crushed during an inspection, mites get them, pests get them, and they die of old age....at a pretty young age. Such is life.

carlfaba10t · April 30, 2012, 12:22:57 AM

had a very similar thing happen when i was doing a cutout,except the bees had honey allover them so i filled a small spray bottle with luke warm water and after placing them on patio table sprayed them off with water,after about two spray jobs and 30 min later they flew off.They say curiosity got the cat well thats ME! ha.

Jim134 · April 30, 2012, 12:41:26 AM

http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/feeder-compare/

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

GeezzzBeezzz · April 30, 2012, 10:12:03 AM

Thanks everyone. Lori, funny you mention the floater - I just read about a floater that I can put inside, thanks. BlueBee - thanks, it's tuff to watch the little bees struggle especially when it's due to something it did. Carl - The warm water idea sounds great and I will try that in the future. Jim, thanks for the great link - I'm going to go with a plain jar feeder when they finish up the syrup in the top feeder.

AndrewT · April 30, 2012, 10:49:23 AM

If you put the bees into the hive, their sisters will clean them right up, and get them warmed up too.

You can't be a beekeeper without killing bees, but if you're careful, you can keep the "collateral damage" to a minimum.

LoriMNnice · April 30, 2012, 12:35:39 PM

I would make baggie feeders to put in the top feeder instead of jars. I use a baggie feeder on one hive and it works fine. I had to google top hive feeder to see what it looked like but it looks like baggie feeders would fit nice in them.

cdanderson · April 30, 2012, 12:41:16 PM

I've sprayed syrup coated bees before with water and they did fine. I bet the ones that crawled in the hive are fine.

diggity · April 30, 2012, 04:42:12 PM

That's why I'm kinda down on hive top feeders at the moment. Bees always seem to find their way in there and drown. In my experience, putting sticks or straw in there didn't help much. I've had much better luck with Boardman type feeders (actually I use the cheap plastic ones) inside an empty deep super on top (sitting on top of the inner cover).

GeezzzBeezzz · April 30, 2012, 10:24:46 PM

Once again, thanks for all the great advice ... I'm really loving this forum!

2Sox · May 01, 2012, 05:34:33 PM

I take one quart empty yogurt containers, drill some holes in the cover and fill with syrup. I place two small wood blocks in an empty pie pan and invert the container over the pan placing it on the wood blocks for height. A small amount of syrup drips into the pan. Then I place the set up right on top of the top bars and surround it with an empty medium. Feeds the bees and solves the dripping and drowning problem. Doesn't cost me a cent. You could use bigger containers with aluminum baking pans if you like. Works just as well.

AndrewT · May 02, 2012, 11:37:17 AM

2Sox,

I'm gonna try that idea. I've used baggies for awhile, but was thinking about putting the baggie inside a tray, so that it wouldn't drip too much into the brood nest and so that you could take off the baggie to get into the frames without spilling the syrup.

I think the plastic tub thing would be good. We go through lots of cottage cheese and sour cream in our house and my wife has a cabinet full of empty tubs.

You know, Sox, the catalog folks hate guys like us.

Finski · May 02, 2012, 08:23:47 PM

.
Every summer day 1000 bees die naturally and same amout will born.

ME Girl · May 02, 2012, 08:53:23 PM

Thanks I was wondering about this the other day. It hasn't happened to me yet but I am pretty clumsy. Still learning and love this board. So much good info!

Shannon

GeezzzBeezzz · May 02, 2012, 11:54:57 PM

Shannon, clumsy isn't the word to describe my beekeeping - if you saw me inspecting a hive I'm sure it would make you feel like Maya Plisetskaya.
Finski, never realized that many bees died in a day! Wow.
2Sox, I'm going to try a hybrid of ideas. After they finish the syrup I'm going to take the screen off the feeder and put syrup filled gallon sized baggie on one side of the opening and a couple pollen patties on the other side so they can pick and choose what they want to eat and no drowning bees!
By the way I checked the hive top feeder today and did not see any drowned bees. Do the bees clear out drowned bees???