Sugar Feeding

Feeding nearly always brings more questions than solutions. The forth hive may not need feeding because they have ample stores or they are finding enough nectar and/or pollen to meet their needs. If they are not taking syrup, that is a good thing.

ncbees said:

3 hives utilize the syrup the 4th does not touch it. The 3 are much further along. Whats up with the 4th hive?

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Have you checked in on #4 and verified that they have a good laying queen? Sometimes that alone will affect how they take syrup. And as stated before it could be that they have enough already. Here's a real good question for you. When you feed, is this the last one you give syrup to? If so it may simply be that the syrup has a larger amount of crystalized sugar in it and they don't need as much to do the same amount of work.. I ran into that problem on one of my hives long ago. Now i mix it up constantly as i give it to them and the last hive is never the same. lol

The Queen is laying really good patterns, but there is virtually no honey stores. Lots of pollen. Maybe they are getting robbed. I watch them and don't see that happening though. I am going to refresh tonight syrup. I'll spray a little on the top bars to see if I can entice them to the feeder.

As is often asked around here "Have you lifted the back of the hive to judge it's relative weight?".

No. I'll do that tonight.

ncbees said:

No. I'll do that tonight.

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What type of feeders are you using? Hive top, boardman, division board? If they have a good brood pattern, etc with no honey stores they should be taking the syrup like crazy. If it's a boardman - make sure you have at least two holes in the lid, if it's a hive top, make sure you find bees in it or that they can even get to it, and if it's a division board make sure the entrances aren't gooped up with wax, etc. Something tells me these girls just can't get the syrup for some reason.

drlonzo said:

What type of feeders are you using? Hive top, boardman, division board? If they have a good brood pattern, etc with no honey stores they should be taking the syrup like crazy. If it's a boardman - make sure you have at least two holes in the lid, if it's a hive top, make sure you find bees in it or that they can even get to it, and if it's a division board make sure the entrances aren't gooped up with wax, etc. Something tells me these girls just can't get the syrup for some reason.

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Top Feeders. I am going to switch feeders around and see what happens.

ncbees said:

Top Feeders. I am going to switch feeders around and see what happens.

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One last question about your top feeders and your setup. Do you happen to have the inner cover put below your feeder on this hive? If so that could be what's slowing them down..

drlonzo said:

One last question about your top feeders and your setup. Do you happen to have the inner cover put below your feeder on this hive? If so that could be what's slowing them down..

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No. Also, the entrances from below the feeder are open. If they take from the switch up then maybe its something in the feeder, a smell, a chemical, or maybe I'll never know. I'll update tomorrow.

The syrup you have been using is it freshly made each time? Is all hives in the sun all day? If both answers are yes, try a switch out with one of your other hive's feeders and see what happens. See if the problem follows the feeder. Make sure you wash it good prior to trying again. Rinse it extremely well too. That alone may fix your issue.

Yes, good idea to wash. I do replenish once a week but I have not washed before replenishing.

I'm thinking that something may be souring or contaminating the syrup at this point. Wash, rinse really good, and try again on a diff hive this time.

Update... I cleaned feeder, refilled and still no feeding. I changed to a new top feeder and no feeding. I added a bag feeder and they started to feed. Everything appears good now. Thanks for all the suggestions.