First year beek- I have one colony almost a year old in the back yard, a deep and medium of brood, a super mostly full of honey and a second in the process of being drawn out, {also have a swarm I hived in April 30 minutes away (not from my box).} We had several days of rain, so I figured I'd put a quart of syrup on the hive and see what they did with it. As I understand (I'been wrong on lesser things) if bees have fresh nectar they won't take the syrup. 4 quarts and 24 hours later- I am wondering whether I should keep feeding. We have some golden rain tree near us in bloom, I'd guess enough to bring in some nectar, and have a fair amount of mangroves and palm trees in bloom w/in a mile. I was shocked at the rate the bees took in the syrup.
Do I keep feeding to get them to pull out one more super or let em ride on natural flows in the area? I expect a brazillian pepper flow in Sept-Oct, so I'd love to have an extra super drawn out, as I would love to pull some honey this year. I took a peek today at the hive, and only got down to the top brood box. It was slap full of capped brood, with so many bees, I'm thinking of going to 9 frame rather than 10, just to make inspections more manageable. Any thoughts?
Do I keep feeding to get them to pull out one more super or let em ride on natural flows in the area? I expect a brazillian pepper flow in Sept-Oct, so I'd love to have an extra super drawn out, as I would love to pull some honey this year. I took a peek today at the hive, and only got down to the top brood box. It was slap full of capped brood, with so many bees, I'm thinking of going to 9 frame rather than 10, just to make inspections more manageable. Any thoughts?
LOL.
