over wintering and feeding

[ladyrose1956]

If i was to place two or three supers ( not all at once ) on my hive, depending on how the foraging is going and what they are bringing in and how healthy they are, am i right in thinking the bees will start to fill them with honey as we all know that honey is important to us, could i take two supers of with honey and leave one super on for the winter and then feed with fondant instead of sugar syrup

 

[Finman]

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When you have one super full of nectar, you should have two other supers where the bees put new nectar to rippen. If the hive is too tight or they have not enough space for brood and nectar, they stop working and start to swarm.

 

[Arfermo]

Putting more than one super on at the beginning of the season is normal. Many local to me put three on and when all the combs become more than 75% capped the super is removed for extraction. If its rape honey don't leave it too long otherwise it granulates and you will find extraction difficult if not impossible.

 

[oliver90owner]

could i take two supers of with honey and leave one super on for the winter and then feed with fondant instead of sugar syrup

This is so far ahead as to be irrelevant at this present time.

You could quite easily get three or more supers filled on your hive IF the colony survives the winter healthy and vibrant, and builds up well in spring. Your crop will depend on forage - nectar. That depends on the location. If you were close to OSR, you could be taking off three supers, or more, as harvest in May.

Next autumn - if you intend leaving a full super of honey for the bees, why would you be needing to feed them? The brood box and a super is usually more than adequate for over-wintering. I would suggest you leave those decisions until the summer as there are so many variables which could change any plan made now.

RAB

 

[drstitson]

rab - don't be too harsh - at least a newbie is aware that bees need honey too and that stripping them of everything is not good idea!!!!

 

[Poly Hive]

"Stripping them of everything is not a good idea."

Oh?

Heather honey for instance is not the best of winter feeds and a colony would be better off with that removed and given syrup so as to have a low fibre diet over winter.

So as ever it returns to "It depends"

PH

 

[oliver90owner]

Yep, as PH. I leave them to store their own honey for over-wintering if possible (no chance of sugar-honey in any supers) Cost is rather more than taking the lot and replacing with sugar, but has maybe fewer risks if the weather were to turn really nasty and fondant needed to be fed over the winter.

Cleansing flights will be mainly for protein and roughage disposal from the hive, there being about 2% pollen in honey, so the bees should be ble to store their waste for longer periods if necessary - there being no indigestibles in pure carbohydrate (sugar honey).

All a matter of choice but the fact remains that a choice to leave on a full super of honey rather invalidates autumn feeding. Could be 12 -14 kg of winter carbohydrate already in store!

Not being harsh at all. Just simple facts and logistics. Attempting planning that far ahead is purely wishful thinking, and is likely to bear absolutely no resemblance to the practical situation, on the ground, in 10 months' time.

RAB