Packages not touching syrup

[thomas]

Hello

Well got my two packages on wednesday and they have not touched the syrup on the hive today they were working as if they were a full blown colony and the pollen they were coming in with was great so that means the queens must be lose and laying will they be ok i watched them and they just ignore the syrup but rather work then take it in.


Tom

[MountainCamp]

What has the weather been like?

How are you feeding them?

[thomas]

Howdy

The weather here is actring really funny when i hived the two packages it was raining and i had sprayed doen both sides of the drawn out comb i use to putr them wiht the rest of it foundation. and yes it has been sunny also and now they are calling for rain all weekend even thou the sun came out today but its raining all nite until tomarrow. But they won't touch it and they seem to be working a good source of pollen and now black berries will be blooming soon and wild cherry trees. i have feeders on both hives and none has been touched they rather be out working.

Tom

[MountainCamp]

what type of feeder?

[thomas]

Hello

I took my old board man feeders and cut a hole in the bottom where they can sit just over the inner cover hole with my jar inserted in it. It does not leak and when i fed my other hives with it they loved it they gather right under the inner cover hole and they feed i use another deep and put it over the feeder so there will be no robbing.

Tom

[MountainCamp]

some hives use feeders, some just don't.
Sometimes it is they just have not found it.
The problem with feeding through the hole in the inner cover is, they have to come to it vs. on the top bar where you can place the feed over them.

[Ravenseye]

Thomas,

Mine never bothered with the feeder (top mount) either in the spring. They apparently found what they needed outside the hive. They did take 2:1 in the fall. There are those that would disagree but I don't believe there's a lot of harm in trying to feed them and having them ignore it...at least this early in the spring.

[thomas]

Hello


Even thou it has been a rainign and wind blowing weekend they seem to be doing very well they are working like crazy and bringing in pollen so that is a good sign so i am happy.

Tom

[beegee]

I'd pull a frame or two and see what they're doing. You should find bee bread, nectar and eggs and larvae. While it is assumed that pollen gathering is a sign of a laying queen, I'd like to see what sort of pattern, amount of stores and distribution.

[Russell]

I'd pull a frame or two and see what they're doing. You should find bee bread, nectar and eggs and larvae. While it is assumed that pollen gathering is a sign of a laying queen, I'd like to see what sort of pattern, amount of stores and distribution.

What does bee bread look like?

[sierrabees]

I had to dump out about forty gallons of HFCS this year because of fermentation. My hives were all strong in late Dec. and I diluted it for stimulative feeding. Then I lost mosts of them to what looks like CCD and couldn't use up the feed fast enough. In march I opened three drums and one of them was working on making cheap wine. Most of my hives were refusing feed and I have no idea how much I dumped out from untouched feeders this year. All of those feeders were sitting one or two frames away from the brood cluster and the winter here was warm enough for the bees to break cluster and fly at least three days a week most weeks, but they just wouldn't take up the feed. My survivor hives did use the feed given them and had to be refilled about every two weeks.