feed consumption question

**adamant** · 10-27-2012, 08:27 AM

i have 2 hives side by side that are in the same condition .(stored honey and frames of brood)
one consumes 2.5 gal. of syrup and the other has not been touched!
the only difference in the two is that the one that consumes the syrup has a in hive frame feeder and the other has a Mann lake 4 gal top feeder..

whats the reason why one is using so much and the other is not? this been going on for 2 weeks now .

**JD's Bees** · 10-27-2012, 08:51 AM

Bees are sometimes reluctant to go up into hive top feeders during cool weather. Also nosema can make a hive not take syrup.
Place the frame feeder in the other hive and see if they will take the syrup that way.

**Mbeck** · 10-27-2012, 08:55 AM

Could it be they syrup in the hive top remains cooler?

**Daniel Y** · 10-27-2012, 09:05 AM

I had the same sort of thing happen this past summer. Difference for me was type of hive. one was a lang the other a top bar. syrups was all made in one batch and fed in the same type of feeder. lang bees took right to the syrup. top bar bees ignored it for two weeks straight. Top bar bees continued to ignore syrup right up to the point they where running out of honey. Finally I realized there was an access issue for the bees. even though there was a gap under the follower board. It apparently was not big enough to suit my bees. they would not go under that board even though it had been designed for just that purpose. I modified the follower board to have a larger gap and the bees took right to the syrup.

I don't think you will have the same problem. but it could be a similar problem. at the very least take a look with an inquisitive eye at what it would be like for the bee to get to that syrup. maybe something just isn't right for them.

**Mbeck** · 10-27-2012, 09:28 AM

Switch the feeders see if that changes anything

**danmcm** · 10-27-2012, 09:46 AM

perhaps some lemon juice, lime juice, vinager, for smell will act as feed stim and speed consumption.

**psfred** · 10-27-2012, 05:49 PM

I had the same situation with my two hives, and when I added some apple cider vinegar to the syrup in the hivetop feeder, they gulped down about 9 gallons in ten days. Sometimes they ignore plain syrup --after all, natural nectar is always associated with some sort of sweet odor, I'm not surprised plain syrup doesn't get their attention all the time.

Peter