Author Topic: FEEDING  (Read 1889 times)

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Offline Blair Sampson

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FEEDING
« on: May 14, 2021, 07:43:12 am »
In an effort to strengthen over-wintered nucs with 10 drawn-out frames is there any benefit to spring feeding 1-1 sugar syrup?  Is feeding spring sugar syrup solely to encorage comb building or does it also help  build up the colony?

Offline yes2matt

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Re: FEEDING
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2021, 08:05:59 am »
In an effort to strengthen over-wintered nucs with 10 drawn-out frames is there any benefit to spring feeding 1-1 sugar syrup?  Is feeding spring sugar syrup solely to encorage comb building or does it also help  build up the colony?
http://pinkpages.chrisbacherconsulting.com/2001_Jan_-_Special_Paper_for_Tennessee_Beekeepers.html#Build-up

I don't do it every year, because it requires extra work/maintenance. But when I have done it I put on a jar feeder with just three holes punched on an inner cover over the heat column (cause they won't take cold feed) with 1:1 in it. I put it on a couple weeks after solstice. IMIRI explains the bee math of that.

This past year the colony that overwinter best had liquid 5:3 on them all winter long. I'm in zone 7b, and it was a mild winter.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2021, 08:18:06 am by yes2matt »

Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: FEEDING
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2021, 09:11:52 am »
I'm in Kansas.  I feed some 1:1 sugar syrup in the early spring to simulate a nectar flow.  That encourages the queen to ramp up her egg laying.  We usually do this in late February/March.  Our colonies can run out of food and many are lost due to starvation in March. You have to be careful to not over feed to the point where the bees plug up the brood nest with sugar syrup.  That defeats the purpose.  I have heard seasoned beekeepers say they prefer to feed the bees slowly in the spring.  I assume that means doing similar to what yes2matt has described.

I do have one colony I still am feeding 1:1 syrup.  That's a split I did this spring and I am asking them to draw comb in the 2nd brood box.  I checked yesterday and the queen is laying eggs in the new comb as fast as they can produce it.
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Offline yes2matt

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Re: FEEDING
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2021, 03:03:49 pm »
I'm in Kansas.  I feed some 1:1 sugar syrup in the early spring to simulate a nectar flow.  That encourages the queen to ramp up her egg laying.  We usually do this in late February/March.  Our colonies can run out of food and many are lost due to starvation in March. You have to be careful to not over feed to the point where the bees plug up the brood nest with sugar syrup.  That defeats the purpose.  I have heard seasoned beekeepers say they prefer to feed the bees slowly in the spring.  I assume that means doing similar to what yes2matt has described.

I do have one colony I still am feeding 1:1 syrup.  That's a split I did this spring and I am asking them to draw comb in the 2nd brood box.  I checked yesterday and the queen is laying eggs in the new comb as fast as they can produce it.
Good points here. Don't want to overfeed so that they backfill. Just a tiny trickle.

Also if you stimulate growth into an artificial flow, you are as a steward committing to keep the artificially oversized colony fed adequately until the real flow starts. Don't trick them into growing then starve them! Which is why I don't do it much now, too much work to keep them fed for two months.

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