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Feeding and supers?

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  burns375 
#1 ·
I just put onhoney supers about a week ago, I know that I'm not to continue feeding as to not contaminate the honey with syrup, but should I keep feeding just to help build comb? My supers are just foundation frames, thanks for your thoughts!
 
#3 ·
What spinner said. Generally feeding is supplemental for when nectar flow is off and need to build up splits/nucs for winter or build up colonies in early spring. I wouldn't feed syrup with supers on for harvesting, unless you like that sorta thing.

Bees only take syrup when there is no or little flow, last resort. A good way to gauge flow. Another gauge is active comb drawing and full pollen sacs on the majority of bees returning from foraging.
 
#4 ·
In Indiana there has been rain constant for the last 4 months, things are still very green, clover looks great, flowers are still blooming, now the corn is tasseling and in a couple of weeks the beans will have flowers, my bees are very busy, I'm watching the foragers come home with the pollen, lots of it, yet they still gulp down about a half a gallon of 1to1 syrup a day, I am glad I only have 4 hives.
Lots of comb being made here, and lots of activity within the hives.
Also my colonies are growing large too.
As long as they take the syrup, I'm going to give it to them.
 
#5 ·
flowers are still blooming, now the corn is tasseling and in a couple of weeks the beans will have flowers, my bees are very busy, I'm watching the foragers come home with the pollen, lots of it, yet they still gulp down about a half a gallon of 1to1 syrup a day, I am glad I only have 4 hives.
Sounds like they found plenty of pollen but are low on nectar. This time of year there is not much blooming left, mainly clover some vines and wildflowers. In our area late april & May & early June is flow time, July not much, august none. I can put a open bottle of sugar syrup out during May and bees don't touch, only if we are in a drought. Blooms in summer do not always equate to nectar/pollen, especially on hot summer days. Usually only 1-3 days after a rainfall do they produce in summer, just too hot. Bees need a diverse diet for micronutrients and amino acids. Good to know Monsanto and ag fields full of pesticides/herbicides havn't killed your colonies. Generally fields of farmland are a sterile monocrop biology, sounds like adjacent fields of clover and wild flowers, perhaps some woods with spring flowering trees are keeping them healthy.
 
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