the reason for feeding colony sugar.....

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buaras

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I've found this website http://www.beedata.com/data2/feeding_bees.html which gives information on feeding bees it's by Dawn Yates who writes......

SECTION A - FEEDING HONEYBEES
1.The reasons for feeding a colony sugar are:
a) To provide adequate stores for winter (rapid feeding).
b) To provide emergency stores in the season between colony inspections
(rapid feeding).
c) As a means of administering drugs (generally rapid feeding).
d) To stimulate the queen to lay (usually slow feeding).
e) To prevent starvation when the colony is about to succumb (rapid).
f) To enhance wax production and the drawing of foundation and comb (slow
or rapid depending on circumstances, eg. a swarm on foundation is fed
rapidly).
g) When a colony has an inadequate foraging force, eg. an artificial swarm
which is short of stores (rapid feeding) or after spray poisoning losses.


My question is simply what is meant by rapid/general/slow feeding in this context?
 
My thoughts are that it is not really in the speed of the feeding but the quantity.

In autumn it is usual to give large feeds to ensure the colony has enough winter feed. Large can be as much as several gallons.

In spring I use small feeds to keep the colonies "stimulated" by effectively bribing them with small doses of syrup. By small I mean a half a frame feeder at a time so about a pint a time.

Hope this gives a little clarity.

PH
 

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