What to feed a new colony

[southern bee]

Hello beekeepers,
This will be my first year in keeping bees. I am set up and ready, they will be here in April. For roughly 3 yrs I have been reading (off and on) and studying about the subject basically to find out is this something I want to do.
During this time everything I have read "feed them sugar water". Recently I have been reading the opposite! Some have said this is like feeding your children Twinkies and cupcakes day and night, which I do not want! So, what do I feed a new colony? Pollen patties? sugar water?

Thanks a lot for any advice,

[Joe D]

I have never bought a package of bees, I have caught several swarms.  The swarms usually come when the flow is going good.  I give them sugar water for a few weeks until they don't take it or they are getting lots from the flow.  Good luck with your bees




Joe

[Michael Bush]

A package has nothing.  If there is no flow or there is a week of rainy weather they could starve.  If your kid is hungry and all you have is twinkies what will you do?  Once they have some capped stores to get through the rainy weather and there is a nectar flow I would stop feeding them.

[mikecva]

When I got packages I would feed 1:1 sugar water until the bees stop needing it. The bees will stop eating it after about 3-7 weeks (depending on your location) That might mean they are well into their second box but they will stop and remove the feeder as soon as this happens.

3 gal. of water to 25 lbs. of sugar is a 1:1 solution   -Mike

[southern bee]

Thanks for the advice. I am in Lafayette, Ga

[AllenF]

My kids love Twinkies.  1 to 1 syrup for spring.   2 to 1 in the fall for storage. 

[mikecva]

 2 to 1 in the fall for storage.  ????

Does that mean I can have 2 Twinkies in the Fall, the old ones were good for 40 years (so I was told).

 Think of it as fattening them up for winter.

In the Spring you want 1:1 so they are fit to fly not fat.    -Mike

[AllenF]

We opened up a box of year old twinkles out of my stash from before they went out of production last year.   They may last forever but they tasted old and tough.   My 6 year old wouldn't eat them. 

But for the bees 2 to 1 syrup.   Bees don't like twinkles.