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  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #5905  by Alfred
 10 Mar 2020, 15:05
Tropical 15c at 1030 this morning with swirling bees out at 8:45 am
Took a peek inside this nuc, one full frame stores on one side as far as I can see.
The other I could not see as they have gone nuts with brace comb in the space of a week.
All round the sides and around what's left the fondant
I'm going to need a chisel to get the frames out.I chickened out of going in any further for the sake of the bees and my kit
It's around half the heft it was in autumn (solid concrete blocks )

Should I still hang back on the extra brood chamber?
 #5907  by NigelP
 10 Mar 2020, 21:16
First day into double figures here at 10C and blowing a hoolly. No bees flying, lost another pane of glass from greenhouse.....just after replacing 4 frames....well not lost but badly cracked. Damn wind...

Alfred, me thinks you are overfeeding :)
 #5908  by Alfred
 10 Mar 2020, 22:11
Methinks too NP
I've taken away their sugar cake and left about 50g of candipoline-(I only see them once a week)
I ll see how they're doing next time
It's my first winter goddammitt!!
 #5909  by NigelP
 10 Mar 2020, 22:35
Don't worry about it Alfred...probably my 20th or so and still I worry about it.......
Safest philosophy is overfed is better than dead....
Easier to remove frames with stores left from winter excess than remove dead bees from frames with no st0res...
 #5910  by Chrisbarlow
 10 Mar 2020, 22:55
NigelP wrote:
10 Mar 2020, 22:35
Safest philosophy is overfed is better than dead....
Easier to remove frames with stores left from winter excess than remove dead bees from frames with no st0res...
Completely agree, I don't understand why this idea is lost on so many people.
 #5912  by AdamD
 11 Mar 2020, 09:26
Alfred, if you think the bees are ready to move into a bigger box you can get it ready and place it next to the nuc at your next inspection with some frames of foundation ready; gently take out an outside frame (that bit always reads easily but may be tricky to do) and place it in the new brood box to give you space to carry out an inspection. You can then decide whether to move all the frames over at that time or not as you will have everything you need to do it. As you know, you need to move the frames over and place them in the order they were removed if you do move them. From what you have said, I expect that the frames will be quite full. If the colony has a lot of sealed brood and little open, that's a good indication that they need room as at this time of year the colony will usually be working hard to expand and would have plenty of open brood and eggs compared to sealed brood.
 #5913  by Alfred
 11 Mar 2020, 13:43
Temps permitting I'll bite the bullet next week and ascertain for sure what they're up to.
Thanks chaps
 #5914  by Patrick
 11 Mar 2020, 14:56
Ultimately you are the best person to judge based on what you see in front of you. As is frequently mentioned on here, the conditions you get locally mayinfluence what you experience with your bees. Bees differ, management differs etc. A well found nuc is unlikely to come to much harm being put into a full brood chamber now even if it is a bit ahead of its needs so don't stress yourself.

I also agree too much feed is always better than too little.. Across my home apiary of a dozen or so colonies there is always variation by hive in weight by this time of year. If you think they need it, feed them. There are those who always say you shouldn't need to if you got it right in Autumn - presumably the same people who remind gamblers after races have finished which horses they should have betted on before the start :)

Just hope this endless overcast sky and cold wind breaks soon - its doing my head in.