Feeding Bee's

[TwT]

ok, is it normal for 3 packages of bee's that were hived 3-11-05 that are on 12 acres of clover to keep taking sugar syrup, they were starting on new foundation and are building comb but are still all over the clover and still taking a quart jar a day per hive (3), is this normal for new hives, thought they might have stoped taking syrup by now?

[buzz]

I would say its normal. I hived mine on the 9th with drawn comb and honey in the hive, and they pretty much stopped taking it 2 days ago.

[Jay]

Yes, normal. The nurse bees are using the sugar syrup to stimulate the wax production in their wax glands. Esp when they are drawing out new foundaton. As long as their taking, you keep giving! :D

[Finsky]

ok, is it normal for 3 packages of bee's that were hived 3-11-05 that are on 12 acres of clover to keep taking sugar syrup

But if hive is small and they get food from outside, feeding syrup will restrict queens brood area.  I really do not understand American way to give sugar all the summer around, and you continue that also on winter winter.  And the most funny! You leave honey yield  into hive for winterfood!

Just very odd :shock:  I have said this many times.

[TwT]

interesting finman, here it is so you see what I'm dealing with,
 

1st hive

 THIS hive is a deep and a medium, they have 7 frames drawn out in the deep and about 3 drawn in the meduim, the hive population is that they have enough bees to cover all frames.


2nd hive

 THIS hive is weaker, 1 deep and only has 6 frames drawn out, good population of bee's, this hive is behind because of drifting when installed,  the population is they have almost enough to cover all frames.

3rd hive

 This hive is like the first hive but has 8 frames drawn in the deep and might have a few more bee's.


finman wrote:

But if hive is small and they get food from outside, feeding syrup will restrict queens brood area.

finman, you mean they will store syrup and cut down on brood space, just the other day I saw some capped honey in the small hive, but they have 5 frames of capped brood ,
 I'm interested in how you would handle this finman, what would you do if these hives where at your place?

[Finsky]

In this case I would put an insulated  middle wall that warm does not escape to vain space.  

But 5 frames capped brood is good. When they hatch, there will be soon whole box full of bees or more.

Your hives are so small that it takes  2 -3 month that bee are able to carry honey to you.

I have some that size of colonies now. I have terrarium heater in every hive and protein feeding (yeast-soya-pollen). That size of colony is slow to develope. But I give hacthing bees from big ones and even populations.

When hive is so big that it has whole box full of nursing bees, It is able to develope normally. From that situation it takes 1,5 months to get it ready to honey collecting.

Terrarium heater helps that in your case  bees would occupy the whole box. It seems now that queen has no extra space to lay eggs until new bees hatch from combs. Juts wait. After that it may have whole box full of brood. And when you put the second box it must be put under the brood box.

If you could get a swarm you could give to little hives extra bees and it helps at once.

I have just now in big hives 4-5 brood frames. Willow started to bloom this week. In big hives there are over one box full of bees. Now they have got a lot of new nursing bees, and queen is able to lay eggs to 7-8 frames and more.  I started protein feeding 4 weeks ago.

Also in your case feeding syrup is harmful. The volume of nursing bees limits you colony growth, but just a week or two.

Like I have written, when I use protein feeding and 15 W terrarium heating, nucs develope 3 times faster than in natural way.  I have tested this on spring and on middle summer. The temperature of night restricts the area which bees can keep warm for brood.

[Finsky]

When I started my beekeeping I bought swarms and I put 4 kg (8 lbs) bees in every hive. They occupyed 1,5 Langstroth boxes. This size hive was able to collect honey 40-60 kg (80-120 lbs) per hive and it acted normally.  These hives had they "dead points" when half of the swarm bees had died and new ones begin to hatch. But after  one week they had a lot of new bees.  But after that  it takes 3-4 week untill new borne bees carry honey from fields.

If you have a good honey flow, even a little hive will become full of honey. Canola gives sometimes so much honey that in 2 frame mating nuc I must take away one frame of honey. If I do not take, a little nuc will swarm and queen escapes.

There is a danger that  little nucs get too much honey and they swarm. Be aware! Many beginners stumble on this.