:yippiechick:
Pardon me while I celebrate. But my first winter is a success! The ladies have survived, what a relief. whew....
SO HAPPY :-D
Now I must admit I half expect them to die due to my lack of experience, but those girls are survivors!
Congrats hjon, hope you have many more.
Joe
I hope you are correct, but don't relax yet. More hives die from starvation in march than all other months combined. They will be feeding 20,000 new mouths. Don't let them run short. 3 days without food and the whole hive dies.
Quote from: iddee on February 21, 2014, 11:39:21 PM
I hope you are correct, but don't relax yet. More hives die from starvation in march than all other months combined. They will be feeding 20,000 new mouths. Don't let them run short. 3 days without food and the whole hive dies.
^^^^^absolutely agree. it's close but right now it can only take a few days for a hive to starve out.
are you sure the winter is over?
the old addage counting ones chickens
jay
Congratulations.
Like everyone has said, you are not out of the woods yet. Lift up the back of the hives to check how heavy they are. I leave my hives extended behind the support beam just enough so that my finger tips can lift the hive. If you do this on a regular basis you will know when they are light or heavy with honey.
Jim
Watch your mite load this year too. The first year is usually not an issue, so don't become complacent.
Hopefully spring breaks out hard and heavy soon, if tahts the case your colony should really take off this year! :)
Thanks for the heads up on feeding. I'm reluctant to open the hive to check stores but I will. Certainly don't want to starve them. I don't have a feeder, I open fed last fall, but the baggie method seems simple enough.
I put mine in some quart jars, knocked some pin holes in the lids, and put it upside down between two pieces of 2x4s. Works like a charm so much better than an entrance feeder. The bees have two paths to choose from this way.
if you run inner covers you can place a jar over the hole and put an empty super on then your telescoping cover.
i checked the wild plums today and sure enough they should be blooming tomorrow or the next day. it should really turn on down here in a month give or take a week, i would think you would be a week or two behind me at the most.
I looked at a few methods. Trying to make it easy and quick, I have taken a 3"shim out of an old half rotten deep body, mixed 4# sugar with 1quart honey that came from this hive and poured/scooped it right on top of the inner cover around the edge of the shim. Top on.
I'm thinking they must have been hungry because as soon as I began to put in the feed some bees began to come up to it and eat. It was 30degrees at noon so I never did check if there is any honey left in the hive. So now my question is this, How soon should I check again?
this time of year you need to watch a borderline hive every few days in my opinion. i lost one a couple of weeks ago because i thought i could wait a couple of days. i knew i sent some late splits into winter light and had tried to keep ahead of them but the last freeze got them.
Any preference about what to feed?
Dry sugar
1:1 syrup
2:1 syrup
Honey
Sugar/Honey mix
Pro/Con of each?
1:1 or sugar/honey mix.
if i weren't building up i wouldn't feed at all, i'd leave a lot of honey. but when i do i feed 1:1.
I'm in Central Arkansas zone 7.
I usually start my hives on 1-1 sugar syrup with Pro Health and Protein Patties around the 15th of February.
That stimulates the Queen into laying.
Then in March I go in a do my splits and checker boarding.
Looks like by the weather forecast it'll be around the 2 week in March this season.
I also use the baggie system, simple and effective.
On my mating Nucs and cloake board hives I will use the Jar feeder method.