[Olyviewbees]

Located in the PNW

When do you add your solid sugar cakes. Our temps are in the upper 30s to low 40's at night. Have heard that if you put them in too early they may remove the sugar as trash.

Second question,

I do have some solid sugar on hives now (weaker hives) they are taking the sugar. Are they storing it or consuming it? Don't want to crack the hive open this time of year to look.

Thanks

 

[GregB]

Located in the PNW

When do you add your solid sugar cakes. Our temps are in the upper 30s to low 40's at night. Have heard that if you put them in too early they may remove the sugar as trash.

Second question,

I do have some solid sugar on hives now (weaker hives) they are taking the sugar. Are they storing it or consuming it? Don't want to crack the hive open this time of year to look.

Thanks

If there is enough honey for now - I would not even bother with solid sugar until early winter the earliest (you only pull the bees up too early - not necessarily good).
OK - IF the hive is weak already, then they will stay high up anyway (trying to warm up).
For the weak hives it maybe OK now.

NO - they do not store solid sugar processed back into liquid (too much hard, expensive work).
They consume it directly and/or throw it away.

 

[bushpilot]

Near Spokane - I have mine in already. But I do it earlier than most, apparently. There were a couple of recent threads about this, search for "Mountain Camp."

 

[LAlldredge]

Located in the PNW

When do you add your solid sugar cakes.

Thanks

I’m in Sisters Oregon. Mine went in after liquid feed was taken off. Unnecessary because they were heavily fed and have a lot stored in the comb but reassuring to me. I use a vivaldi type board with a feeder shim within it covered by hardware cloth. The feeder shim allows me to take the cover off and watch them feed, put blocks and winter patties in and talk to them if I’m being honest about it. I only open it up on nice days during flying weather.

 

[dudelt]

I am located in Bellevue, just across the water from you. Lift up the back of the hive and see how heavy it is. If the hive has plenty of weight, check it again in December. If it is light, add it now and keep checking throughout the winter. I prefer my hives to get to April with a fairly light load of stores still in the hive. I do check them regularly to make sure there is enough honey or sugar blocks to keep them alive and brood up properly. I store extra frames of honey just to be sure. April and May is swarm season and coming into April with a hive still full of honey pretty much guarantees the hive will swarm. In April and May we have a 4-6 week major flow every spring (if the weather cooperates of course). Maples and plums come on in late March to early April followed continuously by peaches, cherries, pears, apples and every other flowering tree and bush in the area (and there are a lot of them). It is not uncommon for them to completely fill a deep box with nectar in a couple of weeks. Keeping sugar on the hive throughout winter and not allowing the bees to consume their stores leads to other problems so only use them if needed.

 

[Olyviewbees]

Makes sense. Thanks