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  • From: "Starks, Walter" <Walter.Starks AT facilities.unc.edu>
  • To: Katja Sage <katjasage AT yahoo.com>
  • Cc: Mark Smith <mgeesmith AT juno.com>, "ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] All That Sugar Syrup!
  • Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 23:49:10 +0000

I'm in my first year so not speaking from experience, but I've been working from the bee school lesson to keep feeding as long as they will eat the syrup. Right now I'm using top feeders and about 2 gallons of syrup every 3 days per hive. Most of the hives have drawn out the deeps and at least one super so I think the feeding is paying off, but I'm also interested in other more experienced opinions.

Just an FYI- Some WalMarts sell 25 lb bags of sugar for about $15.00. I've been mixing mine in 5 gal buckets that I got at Lowes which are marked in gallons. I also use what Lowes calls a Drill Pump. It's just a little pump that connects onto a battery drill. I hooked up a couple of short pieces of plastic hose and pump the syrup in for the first hive. Hard to pour when the bucket is full (heavy).

____

Walter




Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 11, 2014, at 6:35 PM, "Katja Sage via ocba" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:

Hello,

Mark and I feel very fortunate as newbees this year that our hives are buzzing with active queens, good brood patterns, and honey stores.  One is more active and productive than the other, but both are doing well overall.  We've had an excellent mentor, and he's been a great help in guiding us (thanks, Dave!).

We thought we'd open Pandora's box here and ask for opinions on feeding.  We chose top feeders for our hives from the start, and fed 1:1 sugar syrup through mid-May.  In mid-June, we thought we should start feeding again, especially the weaker hive, as the nectar flow dwindled.  However, the bees are going through 2 gallons per hive of syrup every few days!  We are careful to check to add supers as needed for the honey, but at this rate, we are getting feeding fatigue and the sugar isn't so cheap, either.  We know the overarching answer is, "it depends on what you want to do."  Our goal is to make sure our hives are strong enough to winter over well.  We don't expect honey this year, as seems to be the prevailing wisdom for the first annum.

So our questions are, should we be feeding now?  If so, when can we stop again?  If not, when should we start up again?  Does anyone have an easier method (short of buying vats or truckloads of syrup) than mixing sugar with hot water and slowly adding the latter to the former?  Is there a trick to help the sugar dissolve when we move to a 2:1 ratio for the winter? (It is challenged to dissolve now with the current "lighter" ratio).

Thanks in advance for advice and wisdom!

Katja Sage and Mark Smith


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