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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Orange County Beekeepers <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Package bees
  • Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:04:14 -0400

The advice I give is the same as Liz's but Catherine's caveat about the extreme is important.

Another aspect of this topic that first-year beekeepers need to be aware of is that summertime in Piedmont NC is a dry spell with respect to nectar. Once the main honey flow stops sometime in June, there will be two to three months where not much nectar is coming in, or at least not much relative to the hive population. So springtime MUST be build-up time. If your new hive is holding its own during the honey flow but isn't storing up lots of extra, it will be at risk of starvation in July and August. So Catherine's point about monitoring the inventory and taking action based on what you find is very important.

Another wrinkle to this is that my bees only draw out comb in times of plenty. So if I have frames that need drawing, springtime is the time to do it. Feeding may be needed even in a honey flow if the foraging force is too small to provide daily needs, storage needs AND fuel for comb-making. If I hit mid-summer without enough comb to store honey or sugar syrup in, my hive is in trouble.

Every hive, every beekeeper, every locational situation and every beekeeping philosophy is different so your needs & responses to them may differ accordingly!

Randall Austin


On 3/28/2012 10:31 PM, Catherine Adamson wrote:
For what it's worth, I disagree about feeding until they stop taking it.  Many colonies, in my experience, will keep sucking down sugar syrup long after they have enough nectar coming in. 

Taken to an extreme (I've heard of newbees feeding for months!) this leads to the colony being prematurely honeybound which reduces the growth rate (not enough space for brood).

Once you see capped honey/syrup stores, you can stop feeding.  If there's not enough flow and they then consume their stores so that the amount of capped decreases, you can always feed again later.

On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 10:18 PM, Kitty Cunningham <klparmley AT gmail.com> wrote:
 

The feeder is where robbing can’t happen.  I have a top bar hive with a window, so it’s easy to see what going on without disturbing them.
 
I don’t want to cut them off before it’s appropriate, but I don’t want to give them sugar when nectar is available.
 
And this is new to me, so I’m checking in.
 
Thanks for input.
 
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 8:55 PM
Subject: Re: [ocba] Package bees
 
You can stop feeding them only when they stop taking the sugar syrup. They prefer real nectar and will leave the syrup when there is enough nectar and enough foragers. Don't stop giving them sugar syrup until they stop taking it. You will be checking regularly for signs of their filling out the frames of wax (which requires a great deal of their energy...they must gorge to produce wax...) since it sounds like this is a brand new colony, and you will check to ensure there isn't robbing, and that it is indeed them taking up the sugar. Hope this helps.

Liz Lindsey~
Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 28, 2012, at 8:31 PM, "Kitty Cunningham" <klparmley AT gmail.com> wrote:

How long do you feel like you need to feed your bees when they are new to their hives?
 
My bees are bringing in nectar and pollen, and drawing what appears to my unpracticed eye to be good comb. how long to they need syrup before I let them forage for themselves?
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