Spring Feeding & Unwrapping the Hives

[40 Acre Bees]

Well first decent day temperature wise we have had in weeks...  40 cm of snow and 100kmh winds this past Wednesday a true blizzard, but hopefully winter is.  It appears both hives are alive and well, and eagerly eating the fondant we added in February.  Our idea is to feed as little as possible and let the bees be bees, but we don't want them to starve.  It is has been a long winter.  Will the bees eat the fondant if they still have some of their own stores left or is this an indication their own food is gone.  And how long should we keep food available for them.  Also when is a  good time to unwrap them and remove the entrance reducers.  We want to keep things as  natural as possible for the bees.......  Thanks in advance.   

[Woody Roberts]

I'm sure Perry will chime in here but I'll talk out of line a little. I've found bees will often eat sugar and save their honey to feed the babies.
I believe they know honey is better for brood rearing than sugar.

No idea on when spring hits there. I'm wondering when it's going to show up here!

[Jen]

Hey 40    I like to keep as natural as possible as well. Here in upper northern calif we had an unusually warm early spring, we are usually dealing with snow and slush. Because of the early warmth my bees got real busy and I was able to heft my hive with 3 fingers. What i wanted was to give them nutrition and not sugar unless it was an emergency. I chose winter patties, the recipe for a more firm pattie.

ps. don't mistake winter patties for pollen patties. Pollen patties will make the queen want to amp up and start brooding. I just wanted to give them food not sugar.

http://www.megabeediet.com/

[Perry]

Hey R & L.
I would make sure they have some fondant available until you know they have a source of nectar coming in or they have enough honey in stores. You really don't want to get them this far and lose them to starvation, which can happen in days once brood rearing ramps up. At the first sign of pollen coming in you could add a pollen patty to help boost them, especially if you're thinking of splits. (call me if you need any)
I don't look to unwrap until May, unless it really heats up something from what we've been experiencing (since November)
If it gets warm and you notice a bit of crowding at the entrance, just open it up a bit.

[riverbee]

40 acre, have you been able to heft the hives at all to gauge what might be left, or the weight remaining in the hive?
like perry said, i would give them insurance in the form of fondant, winter patty, or sugar to carry them through until syrup can be fed if need be, and yes they will take it even with stores left in the hive. they may have some stores on the outside of the box, or bottom, but will take fondant, patty, sugar, above them before they move from side to side to consume any honey stores and bees will not move down to consume any stores if there.