All mediums, no QE, when to stop feeding?

1802 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by David LaFerney, Jun 28, 2014

mgburton

Discussion Starter · Jun 26, 2014

Got some hives where I'm running all mediums. Honey flow is done for the most part. I usually run a deep and a medium and take the feeder off when I add a third story.

For those who are running all mediums, when do you take the feed away?

The hives in question are swarms that are a couple of weeks old. How would you manage colonies such as this in terms of them having enough food to get through winter and considering that the main flow is over? Is what they store around the broodnest enough? Would you keep feeding and add supers? Really don't like that idea as the bees don't usually consume all I leave them in a super for the winter. That leaves me with syrup in supers in the Spring. Would you feed through winter?

Thanks!

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Michael Bush

· #2 · Jun 27, 2014

>For those who are running all mediums, when do you take the feed away?

Mediums have nothing to do with it. Management is management no matter what the size of the box.

While I would not hesitate to feed bees if they need it, last time I fed any of my bees anything was six years ago...

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SallyD

· #3 · Jun 27, 2014

Michael Bush said:
>For those who are running all mediums, when do you take the feed away?

Mediums have nothing to do with it. Management is management no matter what the size of the box.

While I would not hesitate to feed bees if they need it, last time I fed any of my bees anything was six years ago...

Even with a split or a new hive?

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Michael Bush

· #4 · Jun 27, 2014

I did a lot of splits. A package has nothing when they start unless you give it to them. But I usually have drawn comb and some capped honey I can take from another hive to get them started. No I did not feed any packages or splits.

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David LaFerney

· #5 · Jun 27, 2014

I'm in the south too and run all mediums. I can easily overwinter in one box if i feed dry sugar starting in december. Two boxes make it a lot easier to prevent early swarms though. The point being if you have enough comb then just feed them enough to keep them healthy until fall, if you don't have enough comb then you need to feed them to get some drawn. Or combine them in the fall instead.

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mgburton

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 28, 2014

Michael Bush said:
I did a lot of splits. A package has nothing when they start unless you give it to them. But I usually have drawn comb and some capped honey I can take from another hive to get them started. No I did not feed any packages or splits.

I like the idea of not feeding and actually followed your advice and didn't feed any of my hives during the flow. Less expense = more profitable business model and better for the bees.

However, these swarms were after the flow. I'd prefer not to give them capped honey from another hive. A quart of honey goes for $19 around here. $19 would buy a 50lb bag of sugar. If I dole out frames of capped honey to the swarms, and leave a super on all my other hives which I usually do, then it seems like my honey harvest would be pretty small.

I've heard that some beekeepers will take all the honey they can and feed syrup back until fall. I don't like that approach. I don't think it's the best for the bees, and if you leave a super on, it could contaminate it for next season if they don't use up all the syrup over the winter.

So my challenge is that I don't want to contaminate medium number 3, because that could be a honey super next year, but I want them to have enough feed to get through the winter.

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mgburton

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 28, 2014

David LaFerney said:
.....The point being if you have enough comb then just feed them enough to keep them healthy until fall, if you don't have enough comb then you need to feed them to get some drawn. Or combine them in the fall instead.

The hives in question are either a deep and a medium, or two mediums full of drawn comb. As usual, a mix of brood, pollen, and probably syrup. So do you monitor weight, then feed dry sugar as needed, or go ahead and give them dry sugar anyway in December?

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Mr.Beeman

· #8 · Jun 28, 2014

I gave up on feeding anything (swarms, packages, cutouts) unless it is to ensure the survival of the hive. I do not expect to harvest any honey from my first year hives.
Although I do hive with drawn comb which makes a big difference.

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David LaFerney

· #9 · Jun 28, 2014

mgburton said:
The hives in question are either a deep and a medium, or two mediums full of drawn comb. As usual, a mix of brood, pollen, and probably syrup. So do you monitor weight, then feed dry sugar as needed, or go ahead and give them dry sugar anyway in December?

I feed syrup in the fall to get them ready for winter, but i do mt camp style sugar on all hives because it prevents late winter starvation cause by the cluster getting stuck on brood during bad weather. It works.

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