Hi everyone,
I've been feeding 2:1 for a couple of weeks and the bees have been taking it in like crazy. Today, when I opened the hive to treat for mites (I'm not taking any honey...this is my first year), I found that my previously slow and half empty hive had only the end frames un-drawn. The rest were filled with brood, pollen and honey. The hive consists of two deeps and it is very heavy now. I would guess that I've fed them about 7 or 8 gallons of 2:1.
The brood nest is spread between the bottom and top deep...mostly the result of me putting frames of brood into the top deep some time ago in an effort to get them to move up.
Somehow, my "gut" tells me that I need to continue to feed and also to throw a medium super on top of my two deeps. I don't know why, but I want them to continue to put stores away while there's still time. Here's my rationale:
1) If they don't want to use the medium, they'll leave it alone. If they need it, they'll have it. Frames are undrawn foundation. Hive is being fed with a hivetop feeder.
2) If they backfill the broodnest with honey stores (from 2:1 and whatever flow is on right now), they may decide to swarm. I want to give them space in case they need it.
3) I'm too new to guess the right amount of brood to honey. I know that the bees will try and take care of this but I don't see the harm with throwing a super on now and letting the girls figure it out.
What do you all think? If they were to use the upper medium, will they go that high in the cold weather to use the honey? Without the upper medium, will they consolidate before the cold weather and tighten up the hive?
I'm concerned about having too much space in the hive and I'm also concerned about not enough honey. Maybe I should just leave it alone and plan to feed all winter??
Thoughts????
I've been feeding 2:1 for a couple of weeks and the bees have been taking it in like crazy. Today, when I opened the hive to treat for mites (I'm not taking any honey...this is my first year), I found that my previously slow and half empty hive had only the end frames un-drawn. The rest were filled with brood, pollen and honey. The hive consists of two deeps and it is very heavy now. I would guess that I've fed them about 7 or 8 gallons of 2:1.
The brood nest is spread between the bottom and top deep...mostly the result of me putting frames of brood into the top deep some time ago in an effort to get them to move up.
Somehow, my "gut" tells me that I need to continue to feed and also to throw a medium super on top of my two deeps. I don't know why, but I want them to continue to put stores away while there's still time. Here's my rationale:
1) If they don't want to use the medium, they'll leave it alone. If they need it, they'll have it. Frames are undrawn foundation. Hive is being fed with a hivetop feeder.
2) If they backfill the broodnest with honey stores (from 2:1 and whatever flow is on right now), they may decide to swarm. I want to give them space in case they need it.
3) I'm too new to guess the right amount of brood to honey. I know that the bees will try and take care of this but I don't see the harm with throwing a super on now and letting the girls figure it out.
What do you all think? If they were to use the upper medium, will they go that high in the cold weather to use the honey? Without the upper medium, will they consolidate before the cold weather and tighten up the hive?
I'm concerned about having too much space in the hive and I'm also concerned about not enough honey. Maybe I should just leave it alone and plan to feed all winter??
Thoughts????