spring feeding

[beesonhay465]

about 3 weeks agoi thought to harvest some honey. thinking they were well supplied, hive too heavy to lift . one brood chamber and one super.only found 3 or 4 small patches of capped honey in the super. didnt check further.  thought they were very active every warm day. finally saw some tussleing and fighting going on. realized the were being robbed. put on robber screen and decided i should feed until a good flow started. how long should i feed? iv read some where that spring feeding should continue til they stop taking it.

[van from Arkansas]

According to APIMONDIA, latest statement on honey fraud, April 2020 issue American Bee Journal: ARTIFICIAL FEEDING OF BEES DURING A NECTAR FLOW is a violation.

Your not in a nectar flow so you are within code if you plan to sell honey.

APIMONDIA is the organization that provides rules, standards to the world for the honey crop.  I just read all the conditions, all 5 pages to sell pure to the public.

Fraudsters have tinted honey down to a science: they take pollen sack from bees feeding on orange blossom flowers, then spike their honey samples with this pure pollen.  Then the testing lab see and identifies the orange blossom pollen and it certified orange blossom honey.  The lab is spoofed by the fraudster.  The fraudsters also electrophoresis the honey to exclude particulars to make the honey light, class 10 in color, the most expensive.  Five pages of rules as honey is the 3rd highest cheat to the public, only milk and I forgot the second was more cheated.

Van

[beesonhay465]

l only have the one hive and never expect to sell any honey. i was happy to  have them survive the winter.but maybe the winter is not over yet. certainly no nectar here in northeast ks.

[BeeMaster2]

You definitely do not have a flow when bees start robbing the minute you open the hive.
Bee careful with feeding, it will also cause robbing. If the hive is heavy, I would not feed in the hive. When I feed here, it is 200 feet plus from my hives. That will probably not work for you because you have lots of hives near you and you will mainly bee feeding them.
Jim Altmiller

[Seeb]

When I feed here, it is 200 feet plus from my hives

So Jim, what kind of setup do you use to feed away from the hive?

[BeeMaster2]

When I feed here, it is 200 feet plus from my hives

So Jim, what kind of setup do you use to feed away from the hive?

I?m using a 3 gallon chicken water feeder with gravel in the bottom and a piece of nylon screen over where the water comes out to keep the bees out when the sugar water level is low.
Jim Altmiller

[Seeb]

3 gallon chicken water feeder -

that's thinking outside of the box [hive]

[beesonhay465]

 i thought i was seeing orenting every warm day. finally figured out that they are being robbed . put on robber screen . every day it was bedlam , bees all over and bunches right outside the entrance. then i started to feed. they have taken 8 lbs of sugar 2 to 1 syrup in 2 days and are working on the next 4 lbs.  the robbers are still going nuts. but the hive bees are pretty much ignoring them. being a mean old man i went out with electric fly swatter , killed about 50 or so robbers. iv had this hive about 1 year i dont use a smoker work them in a tee shirt maybe i need more agressive bees. only been stung once. i will stop feeding when i see the first plum tree bloomed.