Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[beegraham]

Feeding syrup but no honey harvested to date. Hopefully I shall do so next year.

https://moggo-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/three-top-bar-hives-doing-well.html

[Barbara]

If these are strong colonies I personally would not feed, assuming they have some stores of their own. If I felt they needed topping up, I would probably give them a 500 mls jar every few days, so that they are foraging in between rather than just filling up on syrup..... nectar is healthier for them.

You need to do whatever you can to help prevent those wasps getting in. Place a screen across the entrance or reduce it down to one hole, maybe even a half and ensure that there are no other gaps that wasps can get in.... I know your hives are beautifully made and probably don't have any gaps but timber can warp and shrink, especially during the summer and it's easy for small gaps to open up without you being aware until you see wasps dancing around the hive and then disappearing from view.

Best wishes

Barbara

[Turbulence]

Hmm very interesting

[beegraham]

Have four colonies now all flying today and redying for winter .
3rd November on a mild overcast day at 14deg.C sees activity levels at about 70%.
Pollen presumed to be Ivy is being brought in.
Ventilation holes were restricted and a couple of layers of cloth insulation added above the top bars.
One attack by a wasp is seen here being effectively repelled whilst another is seen to gain access unchallenged. The images below show the highly effective team collaboration as the bees move together to push the wasp away from the entrance. I don't know if the wasp survived or was fataly stung but it was desparate to gain access to the hive at all costs.
All four hives look to be in good health. The intention remains to treat for Veroa with an Oxalic acid vapour in December as they were previously treated in December 2017. Blog Post shows plenty of images https://moggo-blog.blogspot.com/2018/11/preparing-bees-for-over-wintering.html