how to tell when you have a good honey flow

[WVbeekeeper]

i laid this comb out from a cut out i did when the basswood was in full bloom. the bees totally ignored it preferring to forage for nectar. when the wax started melting and the honey started running off the board, i decided it was time to throw it in the freezer until later.



http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u76/ccohenour1/IMG_1415.jpg

[odfrank]

Lesson # 1 in how to spread AFB to you robbing hives.

[WVbeekeeper]

i guess i shouldn't have made a split out of the hive i got from that cut out, and took frames with queen cell from the split to make nucs with either, should i?

[iddee]

And you should always wear a tinfoil hat, just in case.

[betrbekepn]

I've tried to feed my bees honey as you did, but for some reason they can never find it. The trick is to put a piece of combed honey at the entrance of the beehive you want to give the honey to, they'll find it then, then take the combed honey covered with bees to the location were you have placed your honey. Works every time :).

[NW IN Beekeeper]

[Lesson # 1 in how to spread AFB to you robbing hives.]

If the combs HAVE foulbrood.
I don't think its appropriate to say all robbing causes AFB.
It could, if the combs are infected, and it should be considered.
Throwing the combs away is a waste (unless infected).

I would inspect throughly for signs of AFB and proceed with caution.
I'd problably not offer combs from hives with ANY history of AFB.

Likewise, I'd not render wax from AFB hive either (the spores can be dormant).

Cautious, not paranoid.

-Jeff

[WVbeekeeper]

for the record, i put this honey out for the bees that made it, out for the hive i got from the cut out and the split from that hive which are located at an outyard. i put the honey out for them last month to help them build up after getting cutout and split. the brood from the cutout looked fine, still looks fine. both of these hives are in two deeps now with the top deeps almost completely drawn out. these bees survived for at least four years in their previous location without any interference from man. if they had afb, they probably would've already died out unless they have a great resistance to it. what does it hurt to feed the honey back to the bees that made it? they would eat it in the winter anyway. i would never feed honey from a hive that gets a fall/spring treatment of terramycin because if there is afb, the symptoms are suppressed and you will never know if you have it. i'm sure that many others who have done cut outs have fed the honey back to the bees that made it. actually i've read people talking about it here on beesource.