Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: fall feeding  (Read 2206 times)

Offline beesonhay465

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 82
  • Gender: Male
fall feeding
« on: October 23, 2019, 09:00:28 am »
bees have stored away 32 lbs. of sugar as 2to1  and i have stopped feeding and removed the feeder ,they are in a deep and one super .  i cant lift the hive and have no way to weight it. [ 83 yrs old] the super was about 80% when i started. im in northeast ks.  the temps are low enough that they are not flying except late in the afternoon. any opinions as to whether they are going to starve or not ?

Offline rockink

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 100
  • Gender: Male
Re: fall feeding
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2019, 10:40:45 am »
I use a hive top feeder like in this video full of dry sugar. I got my feeders from amazon. My 5 hives made it through winter, 3 of them ate the sugar 2 of them didn't.

Here is the video I was talking about.
https://youtu.be/PTTK0Rz7Z94

Here are the feeders I used. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FNW2VDB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The feeders come in a 5pack and the first batch seemed to be damaged in shipping so I had to do a second order.

There is another way to do the plain sugar and just lay newspaper down called the mountain camp method. Here is a video on that.
https://youtu.be/ao0gpORl-Ak



Offline Ben Framed

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 12403
  • Mississippi Zone 7
Re: fall feeding
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2019, 11:40:18 am »
Depending on where you live may play a part in the better options concerning winter feeding. Mountian Camp is used by some in my area as a emergency feed. Along with the feeders shown above. I do not know if the rapid feeder will work in Kansas as most likely y?all have really cold rigid winters? From what I understand, in order for bees to take advantage of the rapid feeder, they must break cluster and climb up and over the entrance tunnel just to reach the feed as opposed to Mountian camp which is placed directly on top of the frames laid on newspaper. I am no expert on this and do not wish to give bad information. I would like to see others here, with similar weather conditions as your own chime in. I watched a video concerning emergency, or supplement feed, where the bees can easily access the feed mixture described in the video. This fellow Langford, at Woolie bees, mixes 4 pounds of sugar with 1 cup of ultra bee per 5 frame nuc. Live Oak also posted a mixture here at beemaster, which has more products in the mix, as per Kent Williams recipe. Again your colder climate would be a consideration. Possibly for each of these methods?
Phillip

Let me add, Lankford said the bees seem to prefer or will sometimes eat the mixture before they eat the honey stores.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2019, 11:56:40 am by Ben Framed »
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline rockink

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 100
  • Gender: Male
Re: fall feeding
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2019, 12:25:52 pm »
The question was "any opinions as to whether they are going to starve or not ?" and there is no way for any of us to know. However using the mountain camp method going into winter won't hurt anything as I have found they will only eat it if needed, I don't feel like it is just an "emergency" method if your not really sure what kind of stores your hives have. In addition to being used as a food source the dry sugar on top also helps absorb moisture.

Offline beesonhay465

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 82
  • Gender: Male
Re: fall feeding
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2019, 06:19:12 pm »
thanks for the response to my question. the newspaper method sounds like a method i would use. :happy:

Offline Ben Framed

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 12403
  • Mississippi Zone 7
Re: fall feeding
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2019, 07:15:24 pm »
The question was "any opinions as to whether they are going to starve or not ?" and there is no way for any of us to know. However using the mountain camp method going into winter won't hurt anything as I have found they will only eat it if needed, I don't feel like it is just an "emergency" method if your not really sure what kind of stores your hives have. In addition to being used as a food source the dry sugar on top also helps absorb moisture.

That is correct. We have no way of knowing if they will starve or not. And a supplement insurance such as Mountian camp is the best policy. The method described by Langford is pretty much Mountian camp. I will post the video first chance. As I stated before and according to Langford, the bees will sometimes eat the supplement mix as he described, before eating stored honey. (Pollen and sugar mix). Perhaps the added pollen sub is the difference as to weather they will eat or not eat Mountian camp first or as a last resort.  The video that I will post just came out the last day or so.  The emergency part was mentioned in a late winter video by Langford, basically described above.  I just do not know if bees  in North Kansas cold climate will break cluster and feed on the provided food or not. As I  stated earlier perhaps someone from his vicinity will chime in. Or perhaps you may know the answer rock. A side note. Did you have a chance to hook up with Mike Baker there at the lake of the Ozarks? This fellow is having a good time catching those fish! He even fishes in the winter!!  (Tip of the day) 😊
Phillip

PS for yourself and Mr. Van (being y?all are from the same area as Mike), I will post one of his videos in the outdoor section first chance I get.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2019, 07:35:41 pm by Ben Framed »
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Ben Framed

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 12403
  • Mississippi Zone 7
Re: fall feeding
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2019, 07:18:57 pm »
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline jalentour

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 844
Re: fall feeding
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2019, 09:08:45 pm »
In your area, a hive with one deep and one super is small and IMO will be lite in stores.  You should feed 5# of sugar mountain camp style in November and check during the winter, on a warm day(s), to see if they have eaten all the sugar.  Add another 5# when necessary.  That is exactly what I am doing to my hives of similar size.
Good luck with your bees.