How often do you feed bees sugar syrup now leading up to winter

[Chunk000]

Hi just wondering what people's opinions are on feeding your bees sugar syrup leading uo to winter. Obviously the weather is still sunny on some days but I'm wondering so you need to feed then sugar syrup as well as then still getting in stores off the ivy ? If so how often and how much are you feeding your bees? I've checked stores and they seem.ok but I do not want them to run now or starve . Any advice would be great

Thanks

 

[Hachi]

Try the search facility for "Winter feeding" there are three threads on the first page. These should help.

 

[Beefriendly]

Any advice would be great

Thanks

Its kind of a judgement thing. How many frames of fully capped stores have your bees got now?
Only you know the answer to that.

 

[Michael Palmer]

If you would weigh your hives at the end of the flow each year, likely now with only HB and ivy left?, you would discover a target weight that would assure you the bees have enough feed to get them through to spring. Here, my weight is 155-160 lbs. Yours would likely be considerably less.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Michael's advice is good.
Tell us your configuration and I might make a stab at what it should all weigh

 

[enrico]

It depends totally on what stores they have before you start feeding and if you need to feed at all. If you have taken all the honey then feed is essential, you know how much you are feeding by how much you have mixed up. Mine will take four pints in 24 hours.
E

 

[Chunk000]

I've got a poly nuc that has 6 or 8 standard frames in . Checked the other day and there was plenty of capped brood and they had started putting away some stores of syrup but not all of it was capped . I have given then a bit of the sugar syruo bit i wasnt sure how much to feed jusy incase the queen was laying still .

 

[Michael Palmer]

Also, when feeding...If the colony needs a lot of feed, try to feed it fast. Feeding small bits at a time stimulates brood reacting. Feeding lots fast causes the bees to store, ripen, and even cap the syrup stores. On a Lang, I can feed 5 gallons at once, and the bees take it down in less than a week. When you do it this way, note all the wax scales on the BB.

 

[masterBK]

Most mongrel colonies in my part of the UK need about 8 totally full DN combs of stores. I run double broods and aim for slightly more than that (10 to 12 combs) of stores just in case there is cold spring. I don't want to have to top them up with fondant in february. Been using the "so called" English feeders (which take 6 litres at a time) as I got fed up having to check for leaks and treat my 30+ yr old 2 gallon Miller feeders very year.

 

[PaulCarroll]

I usually use rapid feeders and top up as they become empty. I stop feeding as the colony stops showing any interest, which varies given the stores they have collected themselves and the speed they take down the syrup.


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[Millet]

My old angry mongrel bees got through winter ok with the national wooden hive on brood + half weighing in the region of 90lbs, the poly hives i have now are lighter than the wood but there's a lot more bees in there so i will be happy if they go into winter with the hives weighing around 100+ lbs.

 

[Eyeman]

I run 14x12's and double nats all with supers on sans QE. Home made roofs on most and varroa monitoring floors. The varroa monitoring floors have screw rings fitted to each side to allow the lot to be weighed using a hand held luggage scale:


I've not needed to pre-winter feed any of my main hives for the last 5 years as we have had abundant balsam and ivy flows.
There is little change in the weight till Jan.
My weights on 4/1/17.
Cedar Double nats with x1 super:
Average: 96 lbs
Max 127 lbs
Min 70 lbs

Cedar and poly 14x12's with x1 super
Average 82 lbs
Max 95 lbs
Min 61 lbs
No real difference between final weights of poly (Swienty) and cedar


There are 2 hives which weighted in the 60lbs's and both were fed 1Kg fondant on 4/1/17 and by the 27/3/17 one had 100% and other 50% fondant left

Weight change from 4/1/17 to 27/3/17
Max loss was 12lbs and max gain 10lbs

The spring flow started end of March 2017 and all hives gained weight and additional supers were added.

As as guide if all hives have 70 lbs+ going into winter then I am unlikely to need to feed. It all depends on what spring is like and whether they can forage early. I don't have a problem in adding fondant in spring if needed.

 

[enrico]

Useful facts Eyeman, thanks
E