Hilltop Cloud
  • About
    • Dugoed
  • Shop
    • Fibre
    • Tools
    • Hand Turned Tools
    • Bags and Needle Cases
  • Fibre Clubs
    • Time Travellers Club >
      • TT Club Spinning Hints
    • Never Ending Gradient Club
  • Online Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Hilltop Cloud Community
  • Workshops
  • Shows
  • Spinning Hand Dyed Fibre
  • Packaging
  • Fibres
    • Bases
    • Gradient Packs
    • Pigments
    • Tussah Silk
    • Nordic
    • Fibre Care
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Garment Spinning
    • Flyers and Ratios
    • Skein Length
    • Plying Twist
    • Samples
  • Hand Dyed Warps
  • Accessibility
  • Ethos
  • Quick Links
  • About
    • Dugoed
  • Shop
    • Fibre
    • Tools
    • Hand Turned Tools
    • Bags and Needle Cases
  • Fibre Clubs
    • Time Travellers Club >
      • TT Club Spinning Hints
    • Never Ending Gradient Club
  • Online Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Hilltop Cloud Community
  • Workshops
  • Shows
  • Spinning Hand Dyed Fibre
  • Packaging
  • Fibres
    • Bases
    • Gradient Packs
    • Pigments
    • Tussah Silk
    • Nordic
    • Fibre Care
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Garment Spinning
    • Flyers and Ratios
    • Skein Length
    • Plying Twist
    • Samples
  • Hand Dyed Warps
  • Accessibility
  • Ethos
  • Quick Links

Feed the Bees

15/3/2015

 
I recently heard Julie Andrews being interviewed about The Sound of Music, and of course Mary Poppins. Hence the title, however the outfit you wear for beekeeping makes even a nanny's uniform look glamorous.

The bees have not done well this winter. It's been mild, and the bees have been out flying too much. Cold temperatures are much better for bees, it encourages them to stay in a more dormant state, and they use less of their food stores. When the weather is too warm they go out making foraging flights, but of course there's nothing for them to find in February. Round here the trees are yet to start flowering, and the spring bulbs are only just starting to come out. 

We harvest honey from our hives, but try to make sure to leave them enough stores for winter. How much to leave is something of a guessing game, and partly down to experience. We thought we'd left them plenty of stores, but apparently not. By early February 2 of the 3 hives had eaten all their stored honey. We gave them fondant icing to eat, but for some reason the bees never went up in the super to eat it and unfortunately 2 colonies starved before we realised they weren't eating their supplemental feed. 

The 3rd colony however was still alive, so to try and make sure they stayed that way we're now feeding them sugar syrup. This mimics the nectar they get from flowers, and will keep them alive until the spring flowers start providing them with enough food. 

The next few weeks will be sticky ones involving pans of sugar syrup....
Picture
Bee Proboscis drinking up the syrup. Look closely at the bottom of the ridged clear plastic. 
Picture
The syrup goes in to a tray that sits on top of the hive, the bees can come up in the syrup feeder via wooden cone with a hole in the middle. The clear plastic lid stops them drowning in their own food because they can only get down to the base of the cone to drink in a small gap.
Picture
The hive lid goes on top of the whole thing, and the bees get breakfast in bed!

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    More
     BlogPosts

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Bees
    Chickens
    Countryside
    Dogs
    FO's
    KitILove
    Non Wool Club
    Rhinebeck
    Shop Talk
    Spinning
    Spinningwithapurpose
    SpoinnersAdvent
    Weaving

    RSS Feed

    follow us in feedly

Hilltop Cloud

Hilltop Cloud- Spin Different 

Beautiful fibre you'll love to work with. 
Established 2011 

VAT Reg- 209 4066 19
Dugoed Bach, Mallwyd, Machynlleth,
​ Powys, SY20 9HR
Our Ethos
Picture
Subscribe to our 
​Email Newsletter
Join the Hilltop Cloud Mighty Network