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NZ Beginner Beekeepers
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<blockquote data-quote="Alastair" data-source="post: 13264" data-attributes="member: 13"><p>Need to see the hive or a video of the activity to determine if it is being robbed, however signs you can look for are bees fighting, and bees trying to get into the hive through other entrance points than the entrance such as under the lid or similar. Also, if bees are coming home with pollen it normally means the hive is not being robbed. Also, robbers normally take the unsealed honey first, so not having capped honey is not an indication of robbing.</p><p></p><p>A way to tell is block the entrance at night when all bees are inside, then next day see if there are any bees trying to get in. But important, do not leave blocked too long as they may suffocate. Safest way would be get up early before they are flying, block it, then unblock as soon as you have determined there are no robbers.</p><p></p><p>Some other factors may be the extremely high mite count of 24/300, this will indicate a hive that is definitely suffering. However you have placed apivar so hopefully this will resolve. I would leave the apivar in for the full ten weeks. If all the hive has is some unsealed honey / nectar, at this time of year this is nowhere near enough going into winter, many strains of bees will recognize this and reduce or stop brood rearing so as not to waste resources. Such a hive needs to be fed, and fed a lot. But first, ensure it is not being robbed, and once you are sure of that, reduce the hive entrance to about 2 1/2 centimeters, with the gap being in the middle where the main bee cluster is, ie, the biggest bee numbers to guard the entrance. Then feed, and over a few feeds you will probably need to feed up to 25 kg's of white sugar.</p><p></p><p>Without seeing the hive but based on your description, my feeling is the hive has had some issues including queenlessness, and probably struggled with a high mite load for quite some time, causing it to be unable to prosper, or save enough honey. Feeding syrup to hives with a high mite load is a risk as they are very susceptible to being robbed. However you have had the apivar in for almost a month now, so as long as the strips are placed in the hive properly, it should be safe to start feeding. As you feed, they will start making more brood.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alastair, post: 13264, member: 13"] Need to see the hive or a video of the activity to determine if it is being robbed, however signs you can look for are bees fighting, and bees trying to get into the hive through other entrance points than the entrance such as under the lid or similar. Also, if bees are coming home with pollen it normally means the hive is not being robbed. Also, robbers normally take the unsealed honey first, so not having capped honey is not an indication of robbing. A way to tell is block the entrance at night when all bees are inside, then next day see if there are any bees trying to get in. But important, do not leave blocked too long as they may suffocate. Safest way would be get up early before they are flying, block it, then unblock as soon as you have determined there are no robbers. Some other factors may be the extremely high mite count of 24/300, this will indicate a hive that is definitely suffering. However you have placed apivar so hopefully this will resolve. I would leave the apivar in for the full ten weeks. If all the hive has is some unsealed honey / nectar, at this time of year this is nowhere near enough going into winter, many strains of bees will recognize this and reduce or stop brood rearing so as not to waste resources. Such a hive needs to be fed, and fed a lot. But first, ensure it is not being robbed, and once you are sure of that, reduce the hive entrance to about 2 1/2 centimeters, with the gap being in the middle where the main bee cluster is, ie, the biggest bee numbers to guard the entrance. Then feed, and over a few feeds you will probably need to feed up to 25 kg's of white sugar. Without seeing the hive but based on your description, my feeling is the hive has had some issues including queenlessness, and probably struggled with a high mite load for quite some time, causing it to be unable to prosper, or save enough honey. Feeding syrup to hives with a high mite load is a risk as they are very susceptible to being robbed. However you have had the apivar in for almost a month now, so as long as the strips are placed in the hive properly, it should be safe to start feeding. As you feed, they will start making more brood. [/QUOTE]
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What type of honey is New Zealand famous for?
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