Management for OSR

[Rosie]

When I used to take bees to rape I would guess when the flowers were likely to start and feed thin syrup from 6 weeks prior to the projected flowering date. I was usually lucky enough to have pollen available but for maximum results I should really have fed pollen or substitute too. I never did feed pollen though because I don't believe in giving bees too much artificial support as it makes it impossible to select good bees for breeding purposes. Fortunately I don't need to make a living from beekeeping so I can indulge myself by concentrating on trying to improve my bees rather than producing honey.

I have not read much Yates but I once asked an examiner friend about something in Yates that did not seem correct and he said that when marking papers he can usually tell easily when someone has relied too heavily on Yates and not learned from experience or by reading other authors.

I don't think Yates is alone though. I think if a book is 95% right then it's a relatively good one. The other 5% is old wives tales, guesses and plagiarised old myths dressed up as fact. Some errors, I think, are understandable because the author has only kept limited types of bees and only in one part of the country.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Yes correct if talking about eggs.

Oh, thanks - Y was probably a careless writer, just as I was a careless reader of your post.
Kitta

[Poly Hive]

OSR certainly down here in the East Mids flowers for a mere three weeks nowadays though in the early 90's in Aberdeenshire it lasted a good 6 to 8 weeks. Also here it is so early, in flower at times by late March the colonies build on it but no surplus to be had. In the old days a tonne of it was not difficult.

PH