Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: LocustHoney on February 04, 2008, 06:31:45 PM

Title: Feeding honey vs sugar h2o
Post by: LocustHoney on February 04, 2008, 06:31:45 PM
I have a question about what is best for my girls right now. I have started to feed my hives pollen patties. This has thrown the queen into a laying frenzy (a mild one) and I have been told to keep the SW (sugar water) flowing to them. But I have 4 hives that bit the dust over the winter. I have 1 medium of honey that can be fed plus about 20 deep frames of honey. I have been them letting go at it plus I have sugar water there for them. They have been hitting all of the above...PP,SW, and Honey. Do I need to feed the  SW if I have all that honey available??? The hives have plenty of stores so I am figuring that they are using all the supplemental feeding for raising brood. When the temps drop into the 20's at night I remove the SW. Is that necessary or will they be fine? I was under the impression that I would "burst" them when it froze.  :?
Title: Re: Feeding honey vs sugar h2o
Post by: Understudy on February 04, 2008, 07:24:09 PM
In my opinion it is always better to feed honey than sugar water.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Title: Re: Feeding honey vs sugar h2o
Post by: JP on February 04, 2008, 07:48:28 PM
Ditch the SW and feed the honey frames to them.  Whenever feeding sugar water in cold temps warm the sugar water to say 90F first, they will feed more readily then.


......JP
Title: Re: Feeding honey vs sugar h2o
Post by: Michael Bush on February 04, 2008, 09:53:18 PM
They will burn through a lot of honey in a hurry raising brood.  Keep that in mind.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm
Title: Re: Feeding honey vs sugar h2o
Post by: Brian D. Bray on February 04, 2008, 11:15:50 PM
Quote from: Michael Bush on February 04, 2008, 09:53:18 PM
They will burn through a lot of honey in a hurry raising brood.  Keep that in mind.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm

Yeah, up to a frame a day.