Hot, dry summer - First Year Beek Question

[zohsix]

Hello,

We installed two packages on April 19th, our first attempt at bee keeping, and so far so good. They have drawn out two full deeps. I have fed them sugar water from day one but stopped about 3-4 weeks ago as it seemed there was plenty to make it on their own.

Since that time we have had very hot and dry weather and I'm concerned that their nectar sources may be drying up. The long term forecast doesn't seem to show any signs of relief over the next few weeks.

My questions is, should we start feeding again? What indicators should we be watching to determine if we should feed?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Dan

[BeeButler]

Hi Dan, I'm a semi nube (4th year now), but I think most would agree - feed them, especially new hives as long and as much as they will take it - till you put on a super. I started 6 hives this year, 3 nucs, 2 packages and a swarm. Our spring was very warm after a non-winter so the flow was good for a long run. My girls had little interest in syrup for a long time except right after hiveing. I started using external jar feeders just so I could see if they were drinking, rather than risk a boom of SHB larvae that I had one year in a division board feeder (SHB not a big problem here, but they come with packages at no extra charge). But now they are back on the pipe as our flowers disappear for the July dirth.

[psfred]

Check the amount of honey they have stored every week, and when and if they start using it up rather than sustaining themselves on available nectar, start feeding again.

I quit feeding mine earlier because they were stuffing the boxes with honey, but started up again last week. Very dry here, with no hopes of rain for at least a week, and while they are pulling in nectar from the soybeans, I don't expect that to last and I don't have them into wintering form yet. I'll be feeding all summer, I suspect, and into fall at this rate as we are not supposed to get a weather break until September -- a couple years ago it was November!

If you do need to feed syrup, also consider feeding 1/4 of a MegaBee patty or similar every time they use it up. If you indeed have two full deeps, you may not need the protein until later, but plan on at least half a pound while they are making winter bees in September or October. You want "fat" bees going into winter, they build up better in spring. If there is no nectar, likely there is no pollen, after all.

Peter

[zohsix]

Thanks Peter and BeeButler for your input.

Dan

[Mike Gillmore]

My questions is, should we start feeding again? What indicators should we be watching to determine if we should feed?

I think your answer is dependent upon how much syrup/honey they have stored up currently. If all of the comb is drawn and they have several frames of stored honey between the two boxes I would hold off on supplemental feeding for a while. Monitor regularly and only feed if you see the colony lightening up too much. There may be periods over the next few weeks where there are mini flows as different plants bloom and there could be enough nectar coming in to sustain them.

We're heading into the dog days of July and August and a colony in our region will usually cut back on brood production in the lean months to conserve stores. By constantly feeding syrup you would be simulating an ongoing flow and the bees will continue with strong brood production to take advantage of this pseudo flow. Then you have hives with a high population of bees and no real flow going on in the driest part of the summer. They then become dependent upon you feeding them to sustain this number of bees.

If you have a good fall Goldenrod and Aster flow in your area you may want to consider adding supplemental feeding a couple of brood cycles before the peak of the flow so they increase their population and take advantage of the flow, and also have a decent population of young bees heading into winter.

There is no definitive answer to your question other than simply keep a close eye on their stores and feed if necessary. I just wanted to throw out a couple of other things for you to think about.