Feeding the bees back their own honey

[the beehive lodge]

Has anybody had the misfortune to take too much honey leaving them short for winter i know people feed feed feed sugar syrup but i like to give them the honey they have worked so hard to store for the winter enought to see them over the cold spell
so has people done this and whats the best way contact feeder dilute by a % to help them store it

 

[enrico]

If its not runny turn the jar upside down on the feed hole......although I have NEVER taken too much honey....sell it and buy fondant!
E

 

[For want of a better word]

Natural beekeepers never take any honey or need to feed their bees... apparently!

But if you do feel so rotten that you stole the bees winter stores you should ensure you are careful to feed back exactly the same honey as you took..... same hive let alone apiary!
Do not feed supermarket honey or anything bought from elsewhere as it may be full of pathogens that may harm your bees.

 

[mbc]

Has anyone ever tried shoving caviar back into a sturgeon ?

 

[enrico]

No, why what happened when you tried?

 

[mbc]

My family went hungry

 

[enrico]

You managed it then!

 

[mbc]

Fisting a fish is preferable to a life behind bars for stealing the Queens sturgeon !

 

[enrico]

Fisting a fish is preferable to a life behind bars for stealing the Queens sturgeon !

Is that personal experience!!!

 

[mbc]

Well I've avoided being behind bars, so far !

 

[YorkshireBees]

During the last extraction of the year I had a lot of frames with nectar / honey far too high in water content. So after extracting the honey I extracted the other frames and fed this back to 2 of my colonies in a rapid feeder.
It was runny to start with and after a week when the honey became more solid I simply removed the central cone / cup from the feeder to let the bees get to the rest of the honey. Both colonies cleaned the feeders so much that it looked like I didn't even need to wash them!

Although you should never feed any honey from an unknown source to your bees I believe that my bees are healthy and so had no worries feeding theses 2 colonies.

Of course it is my decision / opinion and not everyone will agree.

 

[For want of a better word]

Has anyone ever tried shoving caviar back into a sturgeon ?

NO but Roast Swan with caviar stuffing is very tasty!.... would not take a swan from the lower reaches of the Thames... far too polluted!

 

[Finman]

.
When bees store the honey, its for winter. KIt is ready.
Youi need not feed it. You pout into above the cluster.
Brood must be under the food store in Autumn.

That is the basic. Of course you do what ever what other 2-hive owners hint to you.

Keep simple things complex and difficult things simple. That makes life to worth living.

 

[Ely]

Keep/sell the honey this year and feed fondant. Don't bother faffing about. If you are that bothered about them having honey over winter then leave them the Ivy honey next year. Honey is valuble stuff though!

 

[sunhivebee]

Has anybody had the misfortune to take too much honey leaving them short for winter i know people feed feed feed sugar syrup but i like to give them the honey they have worked so hard to store for the winter enought to see them over the cold spell
so has people done this and whats the best way contact feeder dilute by a % to help them store it

Dear Alan, sorry to see that the discussion of your perfectly valid question derailed into jocularity. As one who has had the misfortune to find towards the end of the season that the bees may be short over winter, I would like to comment as follows:

I diluted the honey with about 50% of warm water and fed it back to them in a quick feeder.This was five years ago and the colony is in good shape. Since then I always keep most of the honey I take in the comb as this makes the procedure so much simpler, whatever hive you use.

This year, in some areas of the country, including mine, new colonies have not been able to collect enough to go into winter safely, so there is no alternative to administering sugar feeds, as honey bought from others cannot be relied upon to be free of pathogens. But if you are fully conversant with the health status of your colonies, the risk of harming one of your colonies with the honey from another of your colonies who can spare the gift, is in my eyes minimal.

There are many beekeepers who feel like you and basically aim at having their bees overwinter on their own honey.

With best wishes
Heidi

 

[enrico]

Dear Alan, sorry to see that the discussion of your perfectly valid question derailed into jocularity.

With best wishes
Heidi

Sorry to be happy Heidi, sad world if we didn't smile occasionally .
Good advice but would you be feeding back honey and water at this time of the year? I wouldn't.
E

 

[Finman]

.
Last winter I gove only old capped honeyb to bees. Only 4 hives got sugar and others got 600 kg old honey crystallized.
I put capped honey topmost or I loaded the box with capped honey. In loading cases I shook bees on new frames. All werea live in Spring.

Bees need about one week to arrange old honey frames. They are here and there broken and they want to clean partly them

 

[Mike E]

Sorry to be happy Heidi, sad world if we didn't smile occasionally .
Good advice but would you be feeding back honey and water at this time of the year? I wouldn't.
E

I think it's ok when the temperature is above 8C or so, and they're still moving about freely; but I wouldn't do it with a very small colony, because of the capping problem. Generally I aim to avoid fondant, it's just good as a last resort as far as I can see, but would be interested in more views on the matter.

 

[enrico]

Sugar is sugar. Honey is best, but if needs must then any food that keeps them alive Will do. Some bk put a large block of fondant only on in autumn and that lasts them through the winter. I use it for emergencies. I like to leave the bees with honey but sometimes that just isn't practical or possible.

 

[Chris B]

Do not feed supermarket honey or anything bought from elsewhere as it may be full of pathogens that may harm your bees.

Absolutely right. I'd actually put it a bit stronger - highly likely to contain EFB or AFB. The problem being a jar of supermarket honey will contain a mix of honey from many many hives. It only takes one of those hives to infect the whole batch.