Is it just me, or is everyone else having to feed their bees this year?

[BeeGhost]

Next to some alfalfa fields.

That is my goal by the end of this week, locking up a spot by some alfalfa fields close to home. I located some great areas on a drive on Saturday, just gotta knock on some doors now.

[KQ6AR]

We haven't had to over here in Concord, all the hives have honey in them. They aren't bringing it in very fast, but its a little more than they need.

[BeeGhost]

We haven't had to over here in Concord, all the hives have honey in them. They aren't bringing it in very fast, but its a little more than they need.

I wish I could keep like 50 hives in town!! Two of my hives I have in town have given me 65 pounds of honey and are currently back filling the extracted supers as I speak!! I mainly just want my bees closer to home so I can just come home from work and then head out to the bee yard instead of going to the bee yards and then hitting the heart of commuter traffic all the way home!! Although it does give me time to think about the bees and the future!!

[Pamela White]

I am still feeding since April. I have decided to keep feeding until they get the 2 brood boxes filled. Got my first sting last evening while doing it and decided to go and get my jacket to finish. On one of my hives the ladies are hanging out in the front alot. Is that normal? Also, is it normal for them to be pissed when I am feeding? Hell, I know it's hot here, I feel like stinging them, LOL.

[Keth Comollo]

Not feeding here yet. Goldenrod is going nuts, knotweed is budding right now and should bloom within two weeks. Loosestrife is everywhere. Happy bees.

[G'ville beek]

Yeah they hang out at the front and washboard (worshboding in Virginny) You will see them move back and forth , and yep even when feeding they can be pissy, but once they get settled in and the resources are available and they get the cable hooked up and watching the nature channel all will be well, You sting them? Well you must be more advance in your evolution , but you have only one sting...

[Pamela White]

Good, I am glad that I am not doing anything out of the ordinary. The sting wasn't bad at all and could have been avoided and I have learned a lesson. That is why I am loving every minute of this. Yeah, I do sting, but not very hard, that way I can sting more than once, LOL. Have a great Wednesday and do some dancing. We need RAIN!!! And, Satan called and he wants his weather back. He can gladly have it.

[smith]

Wierd one here. Had drought and high heat through mid-July, and expected the worst, but they put up a lot of honey. Have gotten rain since, and alfalfa is in full bloom and few farmers are cutting it. Bees are still loading up, and fall flowers haven't really started yet. Maybe not a record year, but pretty nice considering all the crop damage.

[mmmooretx]

I had stopped for a week, but saw next to nothing coming in and inspection showed honey being eaten. Re-started feeding Monday evening, 1 gallon w/HBH & Amino Booster. Tuesday evening they had it bone dry, so did another gallon plus 1/3 of a Mega Bee patty. Will check again tonight...

[Acebird]

Not feeding here yet. Goldenrod is going nuts,

Is that a good thing in the long run? In my travels through Maine and Nova Scotia I saw a lot of golden rod but not much of anything else. I am wondering if the early bloom is due to lack of moisture.

[Batman]

My country hives have had enough. Out of 15, I have ONE! It's been a busy year, and dry too. All but one colony decided to pick up and leave to where there was real food. I've decided that I will go in search of property closer to the city. I've said it for years and someone said it earlier...City bees are where it's at. I love seeing the clover in people's front yards. The water it, and mow it, so it's contantly producing new flowers. I still need to battle the city about allowing at least a couple of hives in the backyard.

Beeghost, the bad things about alfalfa: They tend to spray the fields during the day (least around here) and they usually cut it down before it blooms. I spoke to a friend that grows hay and alfalfa for cattle feed, he said they cut it down before it blooms because the flower take too much of the nutrients out of the plants.

C2

[Fuzzy]

BeeGhost,

Am curious... if you are feeding, then the hive becomes your dependant. Wild hives don't get fed. If no food, the hive reduces the population.

However, to answer your original question, the hives still have lots of pollen coming in as well as sufficient nectar to sustain the hive.
I should state that I have NEVER fed anything other than a starting package or a tiny swarm that I am trying to nurse through the winter.

Fuzzy

[Keth Comollo]

Is that a good thing in the long run? In my travels through Maine and Nova Scotia I saw a lot of golden rod but not much of anything else. I am wondering if the early bloom is due to lack of moisture.

We are just a bit dry here. Slightly below "normal" and rain forecast for Thursday and Friday. We have been very lucky picking up just about every thunderstorm this year. Very lush and green in my neck of the woods.

[Acebird]

So goldenrod is normal in your area at the beginning of August? We are lacking in rainfall for our area but it has made for some beautiful sunny days that are not normal for us.

[Keth Comollo]

So goldenrod is normal in your area at the beginning of August? We are lacking in rainfall for our area but it has made for some beautiful sunny days that are not normal for us.

We see goldenrod in minute amounts from the end of June often. As for the full on blast of all the species we are a couple of weeks early this year. Not worried too much about it as we have TONS of knotweed after Irene and that is going to bloom soon. A good fall flow. Bees are loving it.

[Luke]

I am having a lousy year here too. Even the bees I keep in Dover, NH did not produce much this year. Goldenrod is my last hope. I placed hives on a nearby farm for the first time this year. The owner pointed to five trees and said when they bloom all you can hear is bees. I am assuming it is Linden, don't know what it looks like. All summer I would stop and listen as I drove by to the bees. Nothing happened. Maybe it was an off year for it. I think that is what my Dover bees usually bring in.

[Ben Franklin]

Up until yesterday August 7th I had not fed anything. Seven Swarms and 3 Nucs,,no feeding. Yesterday A bucket I had set out for a free feeder over a week ago was covered completely with bees. I put inside feeders in two of my weaker nucs (captured swarms) and will be feeding until Golden Rod blooms get stronger. I have a field of soybeans across the street and the bees are working it, but not as strong as I had hoped.

We are in North East Ohio,,little to no rain here. Supposed to good chance of rain this week, County Fair week so it usually rains.

[Keth Comollo]

Ooops, I have a correction. Four of my ten overwinter nucs have 1 gallon frame feeders in them. They seemed a bit light on bees and weren't working the wax in the top supers as fast as the others so I decided to give them a little kick today.

[mmmooretx]

I have fed my one hive 3 gallons this week (Mon. - Thur.). It will be very interesting to see what the hive looks like this weekend. Also just added a Freeman oil trap for SHB in my Country Rubes SBB (Thursday afternoon).

[kangaroo]

The few hives I have I never feed. If they can not survive on there own they have week genetics that you should not want. I do give them a quart are 2 of sugar water to start, but after that they should be able to survive on there own. Survival of the fittest!