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From: "deelusbybeekeeper" <deelusbybeekeeper@excelonline.com>
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 12:13:49 -0700
To: <BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: package bees and pollen
Hi to all on Biological Beekeeping
Clay wrote:
--
There has
been a discussion on bee-l on installing cold weather packages.
What is the best way to feed pollen to package bees started on
foundation (no combs)? The folder method described to me by Dee
Lusby? I would like to discuss package bee nutrition so as to
have the healthiest bees possible.
--
Reply:
Yes Clay, you could use both
pollen and honey disposable packets you make up. This would work.
Also you could knead pollen into granulated honey and feed from
one packet as a combined mixture. However, this would feed the
bees as you have now already done.
Here you are now talking starting
package bees on foundation with no drawn
out combs. This is a little different case scenario. Bees overwinter
on
stored and often granulated honey in frames that they then chew
out and
consume slowly. When drawing combs to make new foundation it
generally takes a nectar flow and therefore liquid to get them
drawing wax. You would then need to liquify the honey prior to
putting into the packets. Then on top of the honey you would
need to sprinkle a thin layer of clean straw for the
bees to walk on. The pollen would be now seperate in another
packet for the
bees to help initiate broodrearing along with the comb building,
thus giving
the queen a place to lay immediately as the combs are being built.
Also,
Clay, rather than punching several holes with your hive tool
in the packets
for the bees to laterally move in to feed, you will now have
the straw on
top for walking on the surface without swimming, and maybe one
pencil hole
in the bottom of the packet (tiny) for slow drops of honey to
ooze out of at
a speed the bees can take the liquid feed up(not more than 4-5
drops min).
--
Also Dee,
do you practice reversing hive bodies in your management for
swarm control? Or do you use other methods, splits, ect. ?
--
Reply:
Yes, we reverse hive bodies
in the brood chamber when the third is occupied
and the lower are not.We then place the occupied body down and
let the bees move up through either two or if ample bees in the
super, we might center it instead with an empty on each side
early on.
The main thing is not to let
the bees hanker the queen down and restrict her
laying until the mainflow. You want as much power as possible
going into the
main flow. Until the main flow hits we keep opening the queen
up with her
brood nest and giving her room to lay for maximum number of workers
for
honey production.
As we build our new colonies
up, often we sandwich in new frames of undrawn
foundation into the broodnest between two good frames of layed
up worker
brood. One, it unconjests the broodnest and two, it gives the
queen more new comb in which to lay, and three, it is the best
place to keep drawing
correctly sized and drawnout workercomb and not the bigger honey
combs.
When adding to the broodnest
to make it bigger(adding another super) we
always pull up two good layed up combs of workerbrood into the
middle of the super to start the bees up with maybe an outside
frame on each side of honey from below. Into those spots we would
then slide the honey to the sides and then sandwich the new frames
between the brood in the lower box to refill it out, alternating
frames of brood and new undrawn comb. HOwever, you must do this
just as the bees are getting ready to pop and explode upward
with population, so timing is everything.
Too late, the bees start hankering
down the queen and then go into drawing
honey combs and you then have to fight the trend to reverse it,
to put the
queen back into control until the main flow.
Hope this helps you some Clay.
Dee
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