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Author Topic: Good news and feeding question  (Read 928 times)

Offline mnkosch

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Good news and feeding question
« on: February 20, 2018, 04:34:56 pm »
Hello everyone,

In CT it was pretty warm today (64 degrees) so I decided to go and check on my bees. I am excited to say that they appear to be doing well after a winter that had quite a few cold snaps. They looked to be doing cleansing flights (it almost looked like robbing was happening, but without the angry buzzing and fighting). However, I want to make sure that they make it all the way until flowers start to bloom, so I would love to feed them some sugar. Should I just give them liquid sugar water on days where it's above 50 degrees? How are you guys and gals feeding your bees now? There are still some colder days (~30 degrees) in the forecast, so its probably too early to just give them a constant supple of sugar syrup.

I attached a photo for anyone that is interested (the black walls are foam insulation panels I put up, they seemed to work really well!):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/152840603@N08/38576651440/in/dateposted-public/

Van, Arkansas, USA

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Re: Good news and feeding question
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2018, 05:40:12 pm »
Kosch, I viewed your pic.  You have spent some time prewintering your hives, insulated and strapped, looks very nice, organized and on solid block foundation.

Pertaining to feeding, I have to ask about hive weight, are the hives light weight, just lift the back of a hive and determine if heavy or not.

A small dose of 2X sugar can go a long way if applied properly.  A constant supply can iniatiate the queen laying which you probably don?t won?t in your area at the present time.

Don?t feed next to a hive or you will have robbing.  Later, as the weather warms you can switch to 1X sugar, better in spring than 2X, but you must consider your honey if you plan on extracting the Honey.  You do not won?t sugar or essential oils in your honey.

If you want to pamper the bees, feed some 2X sugar then as the weather warms you can conduct a more thorough hive inspection and make appropriate decisions at that time.
Blessings

Offline mnkosch

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Re: Good news and feeding question
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2018, 12:52:14 pm »
Sounds like great ideas. It's even warmer today, so I'm planning on bringing them some 2x sugar syrup. I'll avoid a constant supply to prevent them from getting too ambitious. I will also check the weight of the hive. Thank you!