Fondant for supplemental feeding

[Ray]

I have a couple light hives. They SHOULD be heavy enough but I'm leaning toward some sort of feeding now, not in February. Have any of you Beeks tried fondant in the fall?

[LazyBkpr]

I think most of us do Ray.

   http://www.outyard.net/wintering.html

[Perry]

LazyBkpr and I both feel the same way (I think). Not only is the fondant a good emergency food, but it also provides a bridge for bees that chimney up the middle and then move to one side, exhaust the stores there, and then get trapped by cold with stores stuck on the far side.

[riverbee]

yes, i do ray. the shims are already on. i use winter patties, but i have one hive packed full of bees that is a little too light for my liking even though it was fed and we had a good flow.  it was a nuc made up in july, with a good queen but she was a bit of a later bloomer. i scrambled up a third deep with some honey frames in it last weekend (i am certain the first deep on that hive is empty), moved the shim/feed up on top of that with an additional winter patty on top. for this hive i will probably be making fondant and placing in when need be.  like perry said, it is good emergency food and a little extra insurance if you have some lighter hives.  i like to use the shims, and the bees seem to like the extra cluster space for some reason.

[Ray]

thanks everyone. Looks like an attempt at making fondant.

[capt44]

I put fondant on my bees for emergency feed and keep dry feeders out all winter. I feed Mega Bee High protein pollen substitute.