No Honey Left, But Flowers Are Blooming........

sarafina · March 18, 2010, 08:10:43 PM

I did an inspection of my 2 hives - the yellow hive is building up and has a lot of capped brood in a tight pattern and they have been very active. I have been feeding 1:1 sugar water and they take it like crazy for a while and then slow way down. The blue hive's queen is laying more spotty and not near as much brood or activity from the entrance, although the girls have been bringing in pollen. I guess they are just going to be slower to build up. Neither hive has any honey left - lots of pollen, but no honey. I am feeding the blue hive also but they are barely taking it.

Will I be ok through the Spring? Anything else I need to do? Our cold weather is essentially over and lot of the tress and wildflowers blooming now.

doak · March 18, 2010, 09:37:32 PM

Keep the feed before them till you add a honey super. Whether they take it or not.jmo :)doak

bailey · March 18, 2010, 09:44:15 PM

you have blue bonnets yet?
the bees here mob the little blue bonnetts my father in law grows here in his garden!
how about willow trees?
if there green there has been some nectar for them.
how about black berry? it's blooming here.
i had fresh nectar in my hives a week ago.
bailey.

CBEE · March 19, 2010, 01:28:37 PM

Just because flowers are blooming doesn't mean there is any nectar to get. If they are out of honey stores I would keep the feed on them till the flow is on. When there is a good flow going my bees wont bother much with the feed or wont touch it at all.You want to keep any eye on them cause you dont want them capping over syrup in your honey supers.

sarafina · March 19, 2010, 05:43:27 PM

Quote from: CBEE on March 19, 2010, 01:28:37 PM
Just because flowers are blooming doesn't mean there is any nectar to get. If they are out of honey stores I would keep the feed on them till the flow is on. When there is a good flow going my bees wont bother much with the feed or wont touch it at all.You want to keep any eye on them cause you dont want them capping over syrup in your honey supers.

Thanks, CBEE - I made some more syrup up today and will keep feeding until they don't take it anymore. I only have 2 deeps - no supers - I don't feed when the supers are on because I want to make sure it is *real* honey even though it is just for us. :)

RayMarler · March 20, 2010, 03:47:29 AM

just me, everyone is different, but I'd pinch the slow queen and feed both hives until they had a good brood nest area with some strores going. Let the slow one raise a queen, the old one is just slowing this spring.

sarafina · March 20, 2010, 12:15:43 PM

Quote from: RayMarler on March 20, 2010, 03:47:29 AM
just me, everyone is different, but I'd pinch the slow queen and feed both hives until they had a good brood nest area with some strores going. Let the slow one raise a queen, the old one is just slowing this spring.

This was the hive I had so much trouble with that had some of the AHB genes in them so I replaced her last year with a queen from Kentucky. I am going to watch her for a while and may replace her with another queen if she doesn't pick it up, because if I don't they may decide to do it themselves and then I could be right back to an unworkable hive again *sigh*

RayMarler · March 20, 2010, 05:27:01 PM

Oh yes, me bad,
I did not notice where you were at there Sarafina,
that AHB does put a crimp in the works where you're at.

sarafina · March 20, 2010, 08:57:51 PM

Quote from: RayMarler on March 20, 2010, 05:27:01 PM
Oh yes, me bad,
I did not notice where you were at there Sarafina,
that AHB does put a crimp in the works where you're at.

yeah, unfortunately it does and I would prefer they make their own. And sometimes it works out ok - my yellow hive re-queened itself and they are as gentle as can be and strong, so you never know. But if you don't get lucky I can tell you that looking for a queen in a hot hive is NO FUN. :shock:

riverrat · March 20, 2010, 10:05:57 PM

what kind of queen did you replace her with some strains of bees are just naturally slower at building up in the spring. I just hate to see a queen get the ax when it really isnt her fault

sarafina · March 20, 2010, 10:18:27 PM

I got an Italian queen. He had Russian queens and I considered it just to have something different than my other hive until he said they tended to be a *bit* more aggressive than his Italian ones. I had spent the past 6 weeks getting popped through my gloves just for taking the top cover off, being chased all over my bee yard and to my back door by mad bees and not being able to come in from 95 F heat w/o bringing a hoard of bees with me into the house...... no thank-you! :evil:

I am going to give her a chance to build up - I am in no rush and my bees are just a hobby so no pressure to produce. I hope for enough honey to give some away and have some left over to ferment some mead with. :-D