Buzzing’s from Guthrie’s retirement apiary

As you’d expect from being the main UK-based bee feed distributors, we are in contact with a variety of seasoned experts from the Beekeeping community.

One such veteran is Peter from Guthrie’s Apiary, who are producers and retailers of Welsh Honey, Bees and Invertbee Bee Foods.

Peter has kindly given us an insight into the past month at his mid-Wales apiary, and even gives us tips on how to use Fondabee Fruc!

In the past month, it has been a real challenge to keep colonies up to scratch for a honey crop. In particular, the young queens in splits or nucs.

Several have put up new queen cells around 14-17 days after starting to lay; some virgins have been unusually slow at getting going, while other young queens that have been laying for 6-8 weeks have (and in one case succeeded) tried to swarm after being marked, as has always been our custom in the past.

For all of these incidents, and for hives where laying has reduced sharply after Oil Seed Rape and beans have finished flowering, we have used Fondabee Fruc fondant.

This is a soft fondant, originally developed by Belgosuc, for use by queen breeders in the transport cages.

Fondabee Fruc is similar to Fondabee but contains added fructose making it very similar to nectar from white clover, from a bee’s perspective.

It is softer in consistency and ideal also for the so-called June gap syndrome.

To use Fondabee Fruc:

• Divide a 2.5kg pack that has been in the fridge overnight (because of the current heat wave).

• With a sharp knife, remove the polythene wrap from one side only and rewrap in kitchen cling film.

• Using a felt tip pen, mark the side that has cling film with an “X”.

• For the nucs/colonies deemed to need a boost, cut the cling filmed X with a hive tool; place the Fondabee Fruc on the top bars of the brood box or supers (the top of the hive).

• Put a crown board on top; replace the roof and place a large brick on top which rapidly makes it bee tight again.

Todays inspection was 10 days since the Fondabee Fruc was put on, and all (bar one) concerned are now laying, or laying better, and behaving themselves …. RESULT!!

A big thank you to Peter from the mid Wales bee feed family!

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