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Feeding Indoor Hives

16K views 63 replies 16 participants last post by  BMAC 
#1 ·
For you beekeepers who keep bees inside, what do you use to feed your nucs this time of year.
I am thinking my nucs went in light this year. I hefted a few that were on top of the stack, and they seem light to me. Im thinking of feeding them starting March.
I have seen those white entrance feeders to screw a bottle on to, but they are charging 50 cent for them!

Ideas ?
 
#34 ·
Ian,
With the long 4-5 months and your bees not being able to go out on cleansing flights I was wondering if there is a defecation mess inside the hives come spring and if so are you doing anything to clean up the insides of the hives in March or do the bees take care of the cleanup?

With my winters here in Southeast Ohio the bees rarely go a month between cleansing flights, and they usually fly every 2-3 weeks so my original question is one of curiosity as to what the bees can endure in extreme conditions and what it is you all do to help them if needed......Thanks
 
#36 ·
Thanks for the insight Ian, that is pretty amazing that bees stay holed up that long without cleansing flights. You have quite a setup going, I wish you the best for this coming spring.
 
#40 ·
Ian back on the idea of top entrance:

What about using a small fan to blow in the granulated sugar into the NUCs? I was thinking about that and I know mannlake or someone sells a sugar blower. I would think that would pack enough granulated sugar into each NUC to give them emergency feed. That of course is whether or not you have upper entrances.

Maybe It could work the same with lower entrances.

Food for thought
 
#42 ·
Ideally dry sugar is placed just above and as near to the cluster as possible. Bees may take dry sugar on a bottom board well if the cluster is very low but there are also scenarios, oddly enough, where bees will begin to haul it out of the entrance like so much garbage.
 
#43 ·
A local beek here told me to close off the lower entrance up to 90% to help alleviate them kicking out the sugar as trash. He told me they will finally get it and eat it.

I personally have never done this as I bring all my bees south for the winter. I suppose if I was inclined to keep them in NY I might consider putting my previous summer NUCs in an insulated building with fans.
 
#44 ·
Certainly it would be better if you could get the lid off but since that isn't an option I guess you could try sugar on the bottom boards for a few and do more if it works? I've tried boardman feeders before and they're a ton of work... You'll probably pay more than 50 cents for a mason jar to put in that feeder plus no matter how careful you are the Jars will eventually turn green with mold which can't be good for the bees. Best of luck whatever way you go with
 
#46 ·
Ya the trick to wintering indoors is having consistent COLD weather outside to help regulate the indoor temp. Rairly would there be a chance for hives to fly throughout the entire winter period, if they sat outside, maybe once or twice throughout the entire wintering period. We have a consistent cold winter here in Manitoba,
 
#48 ·
I always wondered how beekeepers saw what they were doing inside the buildings where they kept the bees .

If the bees are bothered by the red lights , if you could find night vision binoculars or a monoculars , that would be a neat way to avoid the lights ?? i don't know if that is stupid or not to suggest : )

I know i'm a little nutty : p

Ben

You have a nice setup Ian !
 
#51 ·
Ian I made the mistake of wearing a headlamp under my veil when moving bees at night by hand once. ;) ...and I say ONCE! ;)
Did not have anyway to shut headlamp off as switch is on headlamp and I did not want to lift up my veil with 80,000 bees bouncing off and clinging to it trying to sting me anyway they could. That was the most stings I ever received and it was not fun! But funny now when I think back at my learning curve! :) :)
 
#53 ·
Nick as far as bee loss per hive, Ian's number of 1/2 to 1 1/2 pounds per hive is probably a good one. This number can vary greatly from year to year. Hives that have lost most of their summer bees during the fall before move in will drop fewer bees in winter. Most times a heavier drop points to stronger hives and better survival because this usually means the hives are bigger to begin with. (Of course if disease is not under control, then the hives may just be dying.) No bee drop is a really bad thing.

I used to use a headlamp that had a red light option but lost it during a bee move last year. So, this year I have only been using a white light headlamp and have gotten away with it so far. However, as I said before, I do drop the temp down to just above freezing if I am going to work in the wintering room.
 
#55 ·
Ian,

Do you see any difference in winter survival of the singles versus the doubles? Seems like I always have up to 40 or so hives I can't seem to fit on the semi headed to almonds and I always have a mixture of singles and doubles to choose from. My building is a bit larger and I'd have fewer bees to help heat it so I'd have to supplement the heat a bit to keep it at 5 degrees C or so. Also interested in the genetics of the bees you have the best luck with for wintering indoors--that would factor into who stays and who goes to CA in the fall.
 
#56 ·
ya, indoor wintering will work for you, we are basically neighbours ! Cheers!

As for the question about singles and doubles, I see a bit of a larger population from the doubles, but as for wintering losses, I see no difference. I have both double and single arrangement as well as 5 frame nucs. I use alot of Cali queens, carni, they work great !
 
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