How to feed fondant

[Monkey]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum and new, since July 2017, to keeping bees.

I have two colonies, set up from nucs in July 2017, that I am trying to look after. Late December, I checked their supplies, and with little experience, the hefting felt ok, but I was terrified of starvation, I gave each of them a 1kg fondant above the crown board.

Yesterday, 23rd January, was a warm and quiet day. The bees were flying and all felt good. I opened each hive and everything seemed great. The bees were very calm, no sense at all of anger/defence. I did not lift any frames as it seems wrong to interfere with the cluster.

One of the hives had gone through most of the fondant from December. The other, had about 450g still to go through. I moved the half eaten fondant of one hive direct to the top of the frames, and put a 2.5kg fondant on the frames of the hive that had run supplies low.

Now I'm paranoid that I may be over-feeding my bees.

Can you over feed bees?
Does putting the fondant directly on the frames help?
When I put the fondant on the frames, I opened up a large section in the sachet and placed that face down on the frames. Is this ok?

Many thanks for reading this.

Charles - EDBK

 

[DanBee]

Hello Charles.

Locally (assuming EDBK is East Devon) my colonies had a good autumn and went into winter with good stores; few are light but those that are were noticeable. I too have been putting fondant on selected colonies.

Clearly both your colonies have found the fondant above the crownboard, suggesting it was fine there. They will have consumed (or moved) it according to their needs. I'd have been worried if one had not touched it at all. It has been a mild winter and bees frequently break cluster and are mobile within the hive.

You are also starting to get a feel for how much they are consuming and at what rate. I'd continue to keep a small quantity (1Kg or so) on top for peace of mind, and check how much is left periodically as you have been doing. In terms of winter stores that amount of fondant is a top-up and shouldn't overwhelm them. Yes, keep it mostly bagged to prevent drying out.

Minimum intrusion is generally good here for a month or so yet.

 

[drex]

Hi Charles,
Keep it up. By the sound of it you are doing great. Can you over feed bees? yes you can. It is a balancing act, feeding enough to ensure they have good stores, but not so much that the queen has nowhere to lay. At this time of the year, with fondant, as Dan advises I would err on the side of making sure they have a supply of food. Over feeding can be more of a worry in Autumn . Great start.

 

[taurus]

I have some colonies that superceded late in the summer and then the new queens took weeks to start laying so they were very small going into the winter with very little by way of stores.

My tactic has been to fit polycarbonate crownboard with a container of fondant upside down over the feed hole. I put an empty super on top of the crown board and fill it with old towels. Then a foam insulation board on top of that.

It means I can check on their fondant supply and keep an eye on the cluster by just lifting the corner of the towels - so the bees aren't uncovered.

For nucs I just make a clear cover and an eke big enough to contain the fondant container. It seems to be working very well so far.

The main thing is that it allows me to keep an eye on them whilst not exposing them to the cold.

 

[Monkey]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my question. I feel reassured that I'm doing ok.