I asked Robert Bell of Heatherbell Honeybees for advice on the matter when I collected the bees. He advised that the bees should not be put in the centre of the hive, but at one end, and entrance holes should always be in the end for topbar hives in the UK. This is because the UK climate is generally rather cool, so, the hive entrance should always be "Warm Way" so as not to chill the brood. In hot climates, such as Africa, where topbar hives are the main type of hive, the climate is very hot, and the problem is that the brood can overheat, so, in hot countries the entrance hole is always "Cold Way". Warm Way and Cold Way refer to the positioning of the entrance holes with respect to the direction in which the combs are built. If the entrance holes face the edge of the comb, in the middle of the colony, more air gets in which cools or ventilates the brood. This is called Cold Way. If the entrance holes face the flat part of the outer comb, the brood is protected from the incoming cool air. This is called Warm Way. This explanation makes sense to me, so this is the way I shall put the bees into their new home. A follower board can then be put behind the colony and moved along as the colony expands.
At the moment my bees are still in their nucleus hive, where they will remain for a day to orientate themselves to their new environment. I plan to transfer them to the full sixe topbar hive tomorrow, weather permitting. I put them out in the apiary immediately I got home last night, and unplugged the entrance hole to let them out. Several bees poured out and flew around for an orientation flight, but as it was late evening and getting dark, the activity soon stopped. Today there has been lots of activity, despite the rain (British Bees cope much better with British weather than do Italian bees or other foreign bees that are often kept in this country). Its also encouraging to see that many bees are returning to the hive laden with pollen this afternoon.
I will need to give them some supplemental feeding though, to help the colony build up, as the poor weather is likely to mean that there is not a very good nectar flow, and I don't want the bees to starve. White sugar is not ideal for bees, but feeding them honey from other bees carries the risk of passing on infections. Brown sugar though healthier for humans, is not good for bees, as they can't deal with the other substances in it, so pure white sugar, mixed into a syrup with a one to one ratio with water is generally advised. This white sugar syrup can possibly be improved on for the bees though. Rudlof Steiner's biodynamic approach uses various herbal teas (Chamomile in particular, but other herbs as well) mixed in with the sugar rather than plain water. The herbs are best grown and gathered according to biodynamic principles, and not only provide micronutrients which are lacking in pure sugar syrup, but add the living energetic content of the plant. Things in the living world are both substance and process, and the energy of the particular herbs is important for the bees health. This is something I intend to learn more about, and will no doubt write about in future blogs, but for now I shall use a bit of chamomile tea in the mix.
