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Author Topic: Fall Feeding - inspection interval  (Read 1737 times)

Offline incognito

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Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« on: September 30, 2019, 12:47:13 pm »
I put my top feeder on last week and have supplied about a gallon and a half of 2:1 syrup since then in 3 installments. The bees have quickly consumed / stored the syrup each time. The last feeding was on Friday and the top feeder is currently empty.


But what are they doing with it is the question. How frequently should I be inspecting to see where the syrup is going to and if the stores are increasing or decreasing. I don't have a hive scale and I see the benefits of having one.


The hive configuration was one week ago, from bottom to top: 1 deep and one medium of brood, one deep of mostly pollen with some brood and one medium of what I believe is mostly stored syrup from the spring/summer feeding. Pollen was still coming in 2 days ago. The colony was started from a package in April and the bee population is average or above average.
Tom

Offline AR Beekeeper

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2019, 03:37:59 pm »
When feeding for winter food stores I feed in top feeders and feed 2 to 4 gallons at a feeding.  I check in 2 days simply by opening the top and looking at how much food remains.  If most of it has been taken down I add another 2 gallons and check in 2 days.  When the bees have most of the empty cells filled with syrup they will slow down taking the syrup.  I usually have to feed each colony 4 to 6 gallons of 5:3 mix.

You should have inspected before starting to feed for winter food storage, looking for evidence of a queen or evidence of disease.  Now all you need to do is feed rapidly to cause the bees to fill the colony with syrup.  They will process and arrange the stores the way they wish without any further help from you.  Pack them with syrup, and do the usual things required for wintering in your area, and then leave them alone.   

Offline incognito

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2019, 04:27:49 pm »
You should have inspected before starting to feed for winter food storage, looking for evidence of a queen or evidence of disease.
That was done. All is well except I am treating for mites with Apivar.
Tom

Offline van from Arkansas

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2019, 05:14:43 pm »
Good afternoon, Incognito.  For your reference, my bee hives are losing weight at the current loss of 0.5 pound a day.  Easiest for me to remember 15 pounds a month.   These two hives are scale weighted: each hive has 2 deeps, 10 frame langstrof hives full of healthy bees.

There is a small amount of natural pollen coming into the hives.  Been very dry this Sept in Arkansas so goldenrod is scarce in my immediate area.

I will add, my queens are laying and temps are above normal at 90F soon to change to 75F, an important consideration is queen laying as this has big effect of feed consumption.
Hope this helps.

Van
I have been around bees a long time, since birth.  I am a hobbyist so my answers often reflect this fact.  I concentrate on genetics, raise my own queens by wet graft, nicot, with natural or II breeding.  I do not sell queens, I will give queens  for free but no shipping.

Offline incognito

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2019, 08:38:39 pm »
Van,
I have been watching the thread with your hive weight charts. I did not want to hijack that thread.

Older brood was in the bottom deep, newer brood in the medium above it. Eggs and larvae were observed.

15 pounds per month approximates something like 1.25 gallons of 2:1 syrup (4 lbs water plus 8 lbs sugar yields something slightly more than a gallon of syrup). So using your numbers as a guide, I've given them roughly enough syrup to maintain their hive weight for a month.


I've been told that the bees need empty comb to cluster in over the winter and that I should be careful not over feed and cause the hive to get honey bound.


Are they clever enough to put the syrup where they need it or do I have to keep an eye on them and manage as necessary?
Tom

Offline van from Arkansas

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2019, 09:53:23 pm »
Good evening Tom: Are they clever enough to put the syrup where they need it or do I have to keep an eye on them and manage as necessary?

It varies, I have seen bees place honey way out of reach of a winter cluster and I have seen bees stack honey above brood as perfect as I wanted for winter as you are aware the cluster moves upward to the honey.  In my area most bees cluster in bottom deep and move upward as winter progresses.  Then in Spring, Actually Jan or Feb.  the queen lays in the top deep.  But last spring I had a few queens laying in the bottom deep.  Go figure??

I just make sure there are full frames of honey in the center top deep, unless the queen insist on laying in the top center.  Then adjacent frames are capped honey or if I have the energy, I will move the brood frame down below.  Thus making the bees cluster in bottom deep to keep brood warm.  This would be late October or even early November as weather dictates.

Van
I have been around bees a long time, since birth.  I am a hobbyist so my answers often reflect this fact.  I concentrate on genetics, raise my own queens by wet graft, nicot, with natural or II breeding.  I do not sell queens, I will give queens  for free but no shipping.

Offline saltybluegrass

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2019, 10:26:44 am »
Can you move around a top feeder if you can?t afford to supply all 5 hives? Like once a week move it to next hive?

Also I have all my 5 hives down to 1 BB. Is winter like summer where you stack a brood super on if the population looks like it?s 70-90 percent? Or just leave it?
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Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2019, 12:28:20 pm »
>Can you move around a top feeder if you can?t afford to supply all 5 hives? Like once a week move it to next hive?

In my experience NEVER feed one hive.  Feed all of them at the same time or none of them.  Otherwise you're going to set off robbing...
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Offline saltybluegrass

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2019, 01:18:11 pm »
Thankyou
That robbing is a big deal- I got 2 frames near bare out by 2 hives and several bees just pick at it every day while the rest fly afar to do real work!!
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Then all else falls in line
It?s up to me

Offline incognito

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Re: Fall Feeding - inspection interval
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2019, 04:55:23 pm »
Good evening Tom: Are they clever enough to put the syrup where they need it or do I have to keep an eye on them and manage as necessary?

I just make sure there are full frames of honey in the center top deep, unless the queen insist on laying in the top center.

Van
This is where the bees deviated from my plans.

At one point I was thrilled that to have two deeps on the bottom with brood and a perfect honey dome in the second story. Next up was a partially filled medium with natural stores and on top of that was a full medium with 1:1 syrup from spring feeding.  The bees worked up through the honey dome and put brood in the lower medium and mostly pollen in one of the deeps. I should have fed them in August and September.


Recently, (under the watchful eye of a master beekeeper), I moved the deep with pollen to the third story, just below the medium with syrup, placing the brood in the lower two stories. I am hoping that the queen stays down there. I am afraid that I will have mostly pollen in the deep above the brood boxes.


I do not have resources to reallocate - undrawn comb or frames of honey - to put in the deep of pollen.

I plan on inspecting the hive this weekend to see what the bees have done with the revised configuration.


Tom

 

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