Low fondant consumption

[noumenon]

Four weeks ago I put 1kg of fondant in the hive. It's accessed via the crown board where they previously had a rapid feeder. While they would happily consume 1:1 by the litre, their consumption of fondant is very slow with most of it still there. I've not opened the hive, but on the mild days, there are plenty of foragers coming and going. Is that normal?

Many thanks.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you've been feeding them gallons of syrup, why then Immediately put fondant on top?
They're probably packed full of stores (syrup and ivy honey) so no room for them to store the fondant

 

[Ian123]

Fondant really needs to be in contact with the cluster for the bees to use readily, particularly in the depths of winter. Whilst there can be advantages to fondant you won’t get weight on quicker than feeding syrup.

 

[enrico]

They prefer syrup and will take that if it is offered at any time. They will take fondant if that is all you feed them. One of my hives has cleared one lot of fondant but they had no syrup at all. If you feed both then generally the syrup is an autumn feed and the fondant is an emergency spring add on.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Four weeks ago I put 1kg of fondant in the hive. It's accessed via the crown board where they previously had a rapid feeder. While they would happily consume 1:1 by the litre, their consumption of fondant is very slow with most of it still there. I've not opened the hive, but on the mild days, there are plenty of foragers coming and going. Is that normal?

Many thanks.

I guess they are full of syrup

 

[Ian123]

I guess they are full of syrup

Bees find spaces it’s incredibly rare for the hive to be full!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Bees find spaces it’s incredibly rare for the hive to be full!

Ok relatively. Too full for fondant.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's nearly winter, to store fondant, bees have to carry water into the hive to process it and then take the water out again to store it. It's fine to use as a feed for making stores in early autumn, but at this time of year they will only take it down if they need a ready food source, and as they obviously have plenty of stores at the moment, they'll leave it.

 

[noumenon]

Fantastic, thanks for the replies. It's reassuring to know the most likely reason is they don't need it right now! =)

 

[Hebeegeebee]

How heavy is the hive? That will tell you a lot!

 

[SWEET]

Four weeks ago I put 1kg of fondant in the hive.

Some of mine still have 12kg of fondant sitting on the frames(on a QX) as they are still dragging in pollen/Ivy nectar around here.

 

[JamezF]

still dragging in pollen/Ivy nectar around here.

Same here, by the bucketload. The forecast here is for temperatures to drop by four or five degrees from Monday though, so I'd not be surprised to see them a bit more reluctant to leave home after the weekend.

James