I've taken time to winterize my hives this Friday. In addition, I've been feeding them like crazy, using multiple means of providing them easy access to sugar water. The weather here is in the upper 50's during the days and in the upper 20s in the night. The drones have been purged from the hive.
The girls have been taking sugar water on at a pace with an average of about 2 1/2 quarts a day. Plus, they've been cleaning out a good number of frames that had been extracted earlier. This has been going on for some time. Moreover, their storing this material in any empty comb they can find. Things are getting very crowded. They are even making more comb, as space allows. Some small amount of comb at the very center of my brood boxes is filled with larva, but they are working hard to fill everything else open with sugar water or honey gleaned from the extracted frames. My hives are 2 large deeps with one full super. Above the super, I am also feeding them, using a 1 gallon can of sugar water, thru the hole on the inner cover. (The gallon can, is placed within a deep. The deep is filled with ~ 7 1/2" of foam insulation.)
I'm assuming that I need to just continue feeding them at the max. rate possible, as weather conditions allow? Eventually, I will only have a few ways to feed them, as our night temperatures drop below freezing. Is my approach basically sound?
Regards,
Tucker1
You should have a target in mind. You don't want to fill every cell with honey, or there is no where for them to cluster. What you want is a hive that meets the target weight for a winter in your location. Here that would be between 100 and 150 pounds depending on the size of the cluster and the race of bees, with a smaller cluster and a darker bee at the low end and the larger cluster and the lighter bee at the high end. Once that target is met, I would stop feeding. Usually that is in two deeps around here and mine are usually in four eight frame mediums. With that amount in that volume there is still room for them to cluster.
Michael, are you saying bees can not cluster on filled comb? That has never crossed my mind.
Joan
Michael: The brood area in the center of my upper brood box in this hive is about the size of an average man's fist, perhaps a little larger. It is not a perfect sphere by any means. My hives are all carnies, so I'm anticipating the queen to throttle back on egg production with the change in season.
I guess this begs the question, .... during the winter months, how must sugar water should a normal hive be fed on a regular basis, assuming that the hive went into the winter season with a good set of honey stores?
(I suspect you could feed them to the point where they don't need to consume much of their honey stores.)
Feed continually regardless of store size ?
Regards,
Tucker1
>Michael, are you saying bees can not cluster on filled comb?
Yes. That is correct.
>The brood area in the center of my upper brood box in this hive is about the size of an average man's fist, perhaps a little larger. It is not a perfect sphere by any means. My hives are all carnies, so I'm anticipating the queen to throttle back on egg production with the change in season.
There is the change of season, but as long as you keep feeding they think there is still a flow...
>I guess this begs the question, .... during the winter months, how must sugar water should a normal hive be fed on a regular basis, assuming that the hive went into the winter season with a good set of honey stores?
You can't feed sugar water when the temperatures are below 50 in the daytime and if it's frosty at night the syrup won't make it above 50 in the daytime even if the temperatures do. So from my point of view in my location, you cannot feed syrup in the winter.
>(I suspect you could feed them to the point where they don't need to consume much of their honey stores.)
No. You can't.
>Feed continually regardless of store size ?
No. Feed for a target weight and then stop.
I have seen bees clustered on filled comb of honey and pollen that surrounds brood.
Michael: I'm confident that the hive is in the 100-150 pound range, I have a good 7 frames of bees in the two brood boxes. Weather forecast call of the temperatures to be in the lower 60's and upper 50's for the next 5 days.
I have the ability (I think) to keep feeding them if the temperature drops, via the gallon can located in the insulated deep on top of the super. However, I'll stop feeding them as you suggest, and use the gallon can set up later, if really needed.
As the winter arrives, how will I know to begin providing supplemental feed, if required? Is there a technique for quickly inspecting the condition of the hive & it's food stores? (Or am I approaching this all wrong?)
Regards,
Tucker1
Quote from: Tucker1 on October 19, 2009, 01:17:50 AM
As the winter arrives, how will I know to begin providing supplemental feed, if required? Is there a technique for quickly inspecting the condition of the hive & it's food stores? (Or am I approaching this all wrong?)
Regards,
Tucker1
I was worried about the same thing but I've realized something - if you feed dry sugar on the top bars you can take a quick peek to see how much is left without really opening the hive very much, and the sugar and newspaper should help to minimize the draft from that. This is my first winter and I'm obsessing over every little issue.
They will cluster where they have to, but they can't do it well in an area of capped or even full comb.
I am not a bee, but I think the point of the cluster is to maximize the amount of bees in the smallest space. It is kind of like camping in really cold weather, you maximize conservation of body heat. What MB is saying is that full combs increase the space needed to cluster, so they have more area to keep warm. They usually climb head first into cells and then fill in the spaces between frames.
>the point of the cluster is to maximize the amount of bees in the smallest space
Exactly.
Yiks
I think I overfed one hive because when I removed the feeder today, I saw that they had been building wax combs on top of the super filled with honey(sugar syrup). I ended up having to scrap off all that wax comb so I can place the regular top on them.
Is this a sign that I might have overfed them???
So should I be removing some frames of honey?? I really did not want to have to take the hives apart again since we have been having cold weather during the night (low 40) and about 70 during the day.
Let me know
Annette
My guess is that your climate, Annette, is mild enough that it shouldn't be much of an issue. The problem with having a hive full of stores is they have to heat the stores in order to heat the cluster. When it's -20 F that is a big deal.
Thanks Michael
You come to my rescue once again