What to feed mid-winter

[Graham Coulson]

I guess I’m coming to the end of my autumn sugar syrup feeding, as 12kgs have been readily taken up so far and also judging by the weight of my hive when hefted (although I must admit to not having much experience of hefting hives!).

I suppose now is the time to start thinking about which feeder to install on my hive, in case I should want to feed mid-winter.

I have been using a Miller-type feeder for the sugar syrup, but I also have a different feeder up my sleeve that holds fondant.

I gather that each form of mid-winter feeding has its disadvantage – for sugar syrup, I believe it is that the bees need to invert the sugar; and for fondant, they need water which will be frozen and unavailable to them.

What should I feed the bees mid-winter, please – sugar syrup or fondant?

Many thanks for your views.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

If needed, fondant...

 

[johnandyrob]

If you bees have enough stores you shouldnt need to feed again most bees die of starvation in march

 

[Luminos]

Mine have taken 15kg already and still going, and I only have 1 WBC...

 

[huntsman666]

Don't feed them at all during the winter. They cannot reduce the water content.

Mid-late Feb usual time in my neck of the woods for some fondant.

As you're in France temperatures will be different so when you first see your bees taking spring cleansing flights, give fondant.

 

[oliver90owner]

Don't feed them at all during the winter.

I like it. Says it all. Just let them starve, rather than feed if necessary. Superb advice for the beginner asking the question, and any other new beeks wondering what the issue is with moisture in fondant at around 11% (cf honey @18%). I think not.

Graham Coulson,

With a Dadant you should have enough stores in just the brood box for the duration of the winter. However, unless checked, one cannot tell whether the feed you are giving them now is being stored or turned into brood. Some strains of bee can do that late into the autumn.

Fondant is the normal feed during the winter months, should they need it. The bees will not take down sugar syrup, nor use it during the winter.

Fondant does not require any water to metabolise it. In fact the bees will be producing water from it, as a product of respiration.

So, the answer to your question is: feed fondant. You do not need any fancy feeder - just laying a container covered in cling film (or a wrapped block of fondant) over the feed hole, with a couple of slashes in the cover material (to make the feed avaailable to the bees) is all you would need. Some feed fondant directly onto the frame topbars. But nothing particularly fancy is required. If over the cover board it may be a good idea to in-fill the unused space with some form of insulation should you be using it otherwise.

Regards, RAB

 

[huntsman666]

RAB, do you kick your cat?

 

[Chris Luck]

Here in the south Vienne I don't feed at all in winter and rarely before winter, ie now, but then I'm not in Bourgogne where conditions are very different, in fact in some ways possibly better for the bees with more prolonged harsher cold which should enable the colonies to use less stores.

Truth is that if they are "full of stores" now there should be no need to feed whatever the winter, it's February that counts.

Chris.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Don't feed them at all during the winter. They cannot reduce the water content.

Not good advice is it,if a colony is starving at any time they need feeding,fondant is fine for feeding at any time,and no problems with reducing the moisture,or adding some moisture.

 

[Midland Beek]

I think the idea is to provision a colony well enough before the onset of winter. Fondant or Neopoll can prevent starving. Brood rearing is what consumes the food - not the rearing, but the keeping of the brood nest warm.

 

[tonybloke]

OP's question

What should I feed the bees mid-winter, please – sugar syrup or fondant?

huntsman666 response

Don't feed them at all during the winter.

please ignore this bad advice

 

[huntsman666]

OP's question


huntsman666 response

please ignore this bad advice

What I said in the first paragraph; 'Don't feed them at all during the winter. They cannot reduce the water content.' Meaning that the first sentence links to the second.

This relates to syrup and was very obvious.

As such, it is not bad advice.

Leaving fondant until they start breaking winter cluster is also not bad advice.

 

[Arfermo]

Don't feed them at all during the winter.

I like it. Says it all. Just let them starve, rather than feed if necessary. Superb advice for the beginner asking the question, and any other new beeks wondering what the issue is with moisture in fondant at around 11% (cf honey @18%). I think not.

Fondant is the normal feed during the winter months, should they need it.
Fondant does not require any water to metabolise it. In fact the bees will be producing water from it, as a product of respiration.

So, the answer to your question is: feed fondant. You do not need any fancy feeder - just laying a container covered in cling film (or a wrapped block of fondant) over the feed hole, with a couple of slashes in the cover material (to make the feed avaailable to the bees) is all you would need. Some feed fondant directly onto the frame topbars. But nothing particularly fancy is required. If over the cover board it may be a good idea to in-fill the unused space with some form of insulation should you be using it otherwise.

Regards, RAB

Not feeding in winter is plain barmy if one has any consideration for the bees. Round my neck of the woods, fondant is fed in conjunction with treating with oxalic late Dec or early Jan. I put a shallow eke below the CB and the fondant goes on top of the frames on a tray where the bees can get at it without getting chilled and where the warmth of the cluster will probably keep it more to their liking than otherwise. If it should solidify, just add water.

 

[Swarm]

Not feeding in winter is plain barmy if one has any consideration for the bees.

I've never fed fondant and I've never fed between Oct-March. I have every consideration for my bees, which is why they over-winter well.

If you have left them sufficient stores they should not need anything else.

 

[MandF]

When putting my bees to bed for the winter I noted that most of the stores they had were crystallised.

Which made me think - is feeding them back their own crystallised honey ok for an emergency winter/new year feed, instead of fondant?

 

[tonybloke]

What I said in the first paragraph; 'Don't feed them at all during the winter. They cannot reduce the water content.' Meaning that the first sentence links to the second.

This relates to syrup and was very obvious.

As such, it is not bad advice.

Leaving fondant until they start breaking winter cluster is also not bad advice.

it might be obvious to you, that you meant syrup, but the OP asked should he feed syrup or fondant, your response was " don't feed", therefore a bad response ( not a full response )


leaving fondant 'til it's too late is also bad advice.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

I imagine a Dadant in France would have less requirement for a winter feed than a single deep national in the UK. However the OP is a newbeek and quite rightly concerned about not letting his bees starve.

Fondant is the stuff, if needed, and it should hopefully fit in a carton under your roof (though admit I'm not acquainted with dadant layouts) surrounded by some insulation as described by RAB, so you may not even need a special type of feeder.

 

[Chris Luck]

There's a 5cm space between the feed hole in the crown board and the interior of the roof on a standard wooden Dadant, so plenty of space for fondant if that's what you want. There are also plastic "feeder" replacements for the crown board that are really designed for use with plastic hives but there is no reason not to have these fitted from late summer until spring.

http://www.nicot.fr/ApiFrancais/Elements/nourrisseur-NCC-ruche.htm

http://www.nicot.fr/ApiFrancais/Elements/element-ruche-plastique.htm

Found it in English.

http://www.nicot.fr/PresentationAnglais/GBPageCadre.htm

Chris