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feeding bees

9K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  backyardbeefarmer 
#1 ·
Just checked out my bees yesterday, Feb. 2 and they appear to have enough feed to last quite a while. I want to start feeding 1/1 syrup about 15th Feb. with feed jar over the hole in iner cover and am concerned that it will drip down on the bees and cause a problem. Any ideas.Thanks Bob
 
#2 ·
The system works very well! If you take a 3 or 5 gallon bucket with a hole in the center with a fine mesh over it, fill it up with your feeding syrup, turn it over quickly, a small amount may trickle out but the physics of pressures will take over and it will not leak out. *** If you start feeding too soon the queen will think a nectar flow is starting. This time of year you should only use sugar. Spread about a pound on top of the inner cover and the bees will love you.
 
#4 ·
Hello !
about when to feed ?.
#1 One leaves the bees enough feed , Honey and pollen/beebread in the fall for their winter stores.
#2 At that time you check the weight of the hive by lifting the box a little and if it is HEAVY, they have plenty food.( 10 frames of honey ,etc.)
Rarely have my bees touched sugar syrup because I leave them plenty even though I was tempted to gain more honey for sale or myself.
Sugar syrup is not a natural bee food.
Bees die from other causes . Not necessarily from cold.
Condensation,yes . Wet AND cold.
Feeding is required to nuces or splits .
Swarms : No .
Supplmentary feed like soybean flour with yeast , sugar ?: Mine never touched it .
You may certainly feed yours if there is nothing to feed on in the frames and hope for the best.
JDF
 
#5 ·
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Russell:
How does one "check their bees" in the winter? I would think you don't want to take the top cover off for fear the bees will get terminally cold. I'm new so please excuse my dumb questions.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hello Russel, First the only dumb question is one that one leaves unasked. Second You can inspect your bees in the winter to a point. The day I checked mine it was 35/40 degrees and I only lift the top telescope cover and peer in through the inercover hole to see if the bees are up in the second deep. If I see no bees and hear them then I know they are alive and go no farther. If I don't hear anything after a rap or two on the side of the hive then I will lift the inner cover. The reason why I want to feed my bees early is to make the queen think there is a nectar flow starting and she will begin laying more, thus more worker bees when the flow does start. Also if I want to split a hive in the spring or early summer the will be built up enough to still do well after the split. It works well for me, Don't be afraid to ask questions. You will get a lot of different answers. It is up to you to decide what is good for you. I am always willing to take good advice and I still ask questions.I only ignore those who think they know it all or say thier way is the only way.Bob
 
#6 ·
Do you feed sugar syrup alone in the spring, or do you add pollen or pollen substitute patties? I've asked this question before, and got some interesting answers, including one which said that under our UK conditions, the respondent had got results from sawdust patties which equalled what he could get from substitute! So I won't spend money on that, but I still wonder how they can raise brood if they don't have pollen or another protein source.

Regards,

Robert Brenchley

RSBrenchley@aol.com
 
#9 ·
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Robert Brenchley:
Do you feed sugar syrup alone in the spring, or do you add pollen or pollen substitute patties? I've asked this question before, and got some interesting answers, including one which said that under our UK conditions, the respondent had got results from sawdust patties which equalled what he could get from substitute! So I won't spend money on that, but I still wonder how they can raise brood if they don't have pollen or another protein source.

Regards,

Robert Brenchley

RSBrenchley@aol.com
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I use brood builder from Dadant. You can use what you like, but I never heard of sawdust. I think someone is pulling your leg or are you pulling mine. Sorry about the late answer,I've been on the road lately. bobby
 
#10 ·
No, I don't think he was pulling my leg, just trying to establish that the stuff isn't worth using in British conditions. Bu I wonder. Bees are 'supposed' to start raising brood in January (we all know they don't always follow the rules), but there's no significant pollen source available here before March (They're just starting to bring it in now), and in a really bad spring, it could be a couple of weeks yet. Unless you have a hive full of 'pollen-clogged combs', which I think are an adaptation for our climate, I wonder what they feed the brood on during February.

Regards,

Robert Brenchley

RSBrenchley@aol.com
 
#11 ·
Just started feeding my bees some sugar water about 2 weeks ago in Northern KY.

I just went out to refill the feed jar and noticed lots of brown stuff under the cap. I pulled the feed thingy out and brushed the brown stuff away. It had the consistancy of sawdust. I noticed a few ants. Any advice or clues would be appreciated.
 
#12 ·
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by NewBee:
The system works very well! If you take a 3 or 5 gallon bucket with a hole in the center with a fine mesh over it, fill it up with your feeding syrup, turn it over quickly, a small amount may trickle out but the physics of pressures will take over and it will not leak out. *** If you start feeding too soon the queen will think a nectar flow is starting. This time of year you should only use sugar. Spread about a pound on top of the inner cover and the bees will love you. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You said" If you start to soon the queen will think a nectar flow is starting"
That is exactly what I am looking for. If you want bees to be foraging age when the nectar flow starts that means the bees have to be born some 42 days before it does, not when it does. I am producing comb honey the old fashion way, in the wood boxes, and the bees have to be crouded into these or they won't work them. The reason for the question on feeding from the top is I never used that method before and was not sure if it would cause a problem of dripping down on the bees when it was cold. Bobby
 
#13 ·
Hello, # 1, I left enough feed for the bees to make it through the winter.
# 2, I disagree with you in checking bees in early spring, yes you can tell by weight it there is enough honey in the top deep but if you want to see if the bees have moved up to the second you have to look. This means pulling out a couple of the middle frames,not tearing the whole hive apart.It has never hurt the bees so far. As far as why your bees never touch the sugar syrup or pollen supplement, I can't answer that one, the only thing I know is that I have never had a problem like that. As far as sugar syrup not being natural, So what, if by feeding sugar syrup it induces the queen to thinking a flow has started there by begins to lay more, that is exactly what I want. I really don't care about all this natural crap that everyone is trying to shove down out throats these days. Nothing and I mean Nothing is the same as it use to be and trying to do things as they were done 50 years ago is like trying to drive a Model T down a super freeway or having a privy in the back yard instead of indoor plumbing. Bobby <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Juandefuca:
Hello !
about when to feed ?.
#1 One leaves the bees enough feed , Honey and pollen/beebread in the fall for their winter stores.
#2 At that time you check the weight of the hive by lifting the box a little and if it is HEAVY, they have plenty food.( 10 frames of honey ,etc.)
Rarely have my bees touched sugar syrup because I leave them plenty even though I was tempted to gain more honey for sale or myself.
Sugar syrup is not a natural bee food.
Bees die from other causes . Not necessarily from cold.
Condensation,yes . Wet AND cold.
Feeding is required to nuces or splits .
Swarms : No .
Supplmentary feed like soybean flour with yeast , sugar ?: Mine never touched it .
You may certainly feed yours if there is nothing to feed on in the frames and hope for the best.
JDF

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
G
#14 ·
I guess I'll add in my 2 cents. My bees have been bringing in pollen since about Feb. 21,
though very little at first. I don't know about using sugar syrup, but I use a 60-40 mix of honey-water in my entrance feeder. I rotate the stored honey I have, and use some for feeding. The honey I'm using is 2 years old, and I always have alot extra, so why not give em' something back! I pulled the top box a couple days ago, and I'm guessing it weighed around 50-75 lbs. Most of the bees seemed concentrated in the top box(#2),where most of the honey is. The bottom has about 1/4 as much honey, but alot of cells are loaded with pollen. I'm hoping this means they're gearing up for brood rearing, I also found a sealed queen cell.
Anyway, enough of my rambling on. They look healthy and wintered well(Though we didn't have much of one.), I look forward to a good season. Good luck to all, Tom.
 
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