What to do?

[Bridget]

Well the Demaree seems ok. We are feeding it and there is some coming and going. However we have been told full inspection for another 4 weeks.
The no 1 hive however I have some queries. Before we did the Demaree we had added a second super, in an attempt to relieve congestion. I was going to do a full inspection this week but weather bloody chilly. Took the top boards off and the second super looked a bit quiet. As it was cold closed up. So, if the second super is quiet and mainly a few bees drawing out foundation, do you think we should take off the top super so the bees go back down and concentrate on the first super where things were going well three weeks ago.
I also am not sure if I should feed these bees, vis a vis bad weather conditions at present, or will they take stores from the super which had plenty of honey, uncapped, 2weeks ago.
All info respectfully received!

[Neils]

If you have supers on with stores in or there are stores in the brood box you shouldn't need to feed. If theyve eaten what's stored but still need the space then feed little and often rather than slap on gallons of syrup because they will store syrup in the supers. The only colonies that ive been feeding are the brood sides of my artificial swarms and only where they are running low on stores. Colonies with flying bees and that have stores present do not need feeding at the moment. If the stores are running out then consider feeding but take it on a case by case basis.

As to whether you remove the super I think that depends on circumstances. Supers can serve two purposes, they not only give space to store nectar they also give space for the bees themselves. It sounds like you have the empty super at the top of the hive. My preference is to put empty supers immediately above the brod nest and move the stores upwards.

From a practical point of view, at the moment, there is not much going on, the weathers rubbish and we're in the June gap so compared to a couple of weeks ago when they were filling a super a week they aren't doing much in supers without stores right now, give it a few weeks and hopefully some better weather and they'll be off again.

[gavin]

Agree with Nellie. After spring picks up I don't feed full colonies unless they are light and in trouble. Feed now with supers on and you will be adding sugar syrup to the honey in the supers, if it is honey there already.

[Bridget]

Thank you for that. I'll change the super s around as soon as I get a warmer day and they should still have plenty of stores in the super to feed from.

[Trog]

We used to put the empty supers at the bottom of the stack but this doesn't suit our bees who are on single brood boxes and use the first super for a nice big arc of pollen and honey for the brood, often filling the whole brood box with brood rather than brood plus stores. If we were to move this super up and replace it with an empty super the stores would be a fair distance away and the bees would have to go up through the empty super to access them. The middle arc isn't filled and capped until autumn, so this is usually where we find the heather honey!

June gap? What's that, then? Oh yes, the thing the books tell us about which doesn't apply to the Hebrides where the clover's coming out, along with the escallonia, cotoneaster, etc., etc. In the same way as sensible gardeners don't plant according to the calendar but look at the conditions, sensible beekeepers use their eyes and ears and respond to the bees' needs. Who would have thought feeding was necessary in May? It was last year! This May the supers on the strongest colonies were filling at one per week and the overwintered 3 and 4 frame nucs had to be supered up too!

[Neils]

I think gap can be relative, is it a barren wasteland out there? No, but the quantity of forage coming in comparison and the atrocious weather has left some of my colonies very low on food. The stronger colonies are doing fine and have plenty of stores in brood boxes and supers, the smaller colonies and artificial swarms haven't enough foragers, or didn't last week, to bring enough food in so I'll be taking yet more syrup up tonight and checking on how they're doing and will top them up if necessary.

But I agree with you on the general point of work with your bees, their situation, the prevailing conditions and your style of beekeeping.

[Bridget]

Lovely warm sunny day today and both hives busy. The hive with two supers was very bad tempered, no stores at all in the brood box though eggs, larvae and sealed brood. The five new frames that we put in when we did the Demaree ( new beekeeper's, no extra drawn foundation) have been hardly drawn . Moreover the first super, which had one frame of nearly sealed honey ten days ago, and honey falling out of it, is feeling and looking very much lighter and no sealed honey. So my inexperienced gut feeling is that they are short on stores, hungry and angry and I will give them some fondant tomorrow.
What about giving them some of the drawn foundation from the super? Would that help them?

[Bridget]

Ps to above and re the gap.
Lots of Rowan blossom, clover and meadow flowers coming into bloom. bees in the blackcurrants and despite watching carefully they seemed to be coming in to the hive from all directions.