heavy or light and when to start in AR

[arky188]

Ive got a few (3) hives that didnt have enough stores in them to make the winter right now im feeding heavy sugar 2 parts sugar, 1 part water, how much longer do i keep this up before i change to a lighter sugar water, Question #2, I see the argument over when to feed is starting already lol, are there any AR beekeepers on here with some insight about when to start feeding bees in North Central AR?
Thanks Guys and Gals
Tony

[Michael Bush]

>Ive got a few (3) hives that didnt have enough stores in them to make the winter right now im feeding heavy sugar 2 parts sugar, 1 part water, how much longer do i keep this up before i change to a lighter sugar water

I would keep it up until the hive has picked up some weight. If it's light I wouldn't want to encourage them to start rearing brood until they have some stores.

[arky188]

Thanks Michael, I heard somebody say that Feb is the month to check for mites and start treating them, is that so?

[Michael Bush]

I check for mites now and then all year around. I haven't treated some of them in years, but if they warrented it, I might plan to do something. If you've got four or five mites in 24 hours, I wouldn't worry about it. If you've got 40 or 50, then maybe you should figure out what you want to do about them. If you're going to, it would be better to treat them before they start brood rearing in earnest.

[Tim H]

Hi arky188,
over in NW Arkansas I'll start feeding 1:1 around the last week in February, certainly by the first week in March. I was considering moving the schedule up some since we had been so warm for so long, but with the cold weather predicted for the next 7 days, I'll think I'll stick to the original plan.