I've been feeding my overwintered hive for a few weeks now. They have been storing the syrup along with any natural nectar, all over in the hive. I realize that this is normal behavior but am wondering what is mu best option to keep them from swarming because of all the stored nectar. Do I remove it, give it to another hive? What the best thing to do, and is this something that I will run into every year or does it differ from year to year?
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesswarmcontrol.htm
Homer, bees needs LOTS and LOTS of room to store nectar. The nectar is reduced in volume by an extremely significant amount as it is dehydrated and turned into honey. If it is nectar that you are seeing, I would not worry about it very much, it will be reduced to honey and take up a much smaller amount of space. Hope this is what you were wanting an answer to. Have that beautiful life, day, health. Cindi
So if they are storing all this nectar are the using it for food? Can I stop feeding them?
Also an excellent post by Brian Bray on swarm control in this thread:
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,20193.msg155076.html#msg155076