I've got some honey that I crushed and strained a few months ago that I'd like to feed back to my bees. Is honey like sugar syrup, where I can't put a jar of it in the hive if it's cold because it'll be too viscous for the girls to eat? If so, is there any way to feed honey in the cold, or should I just make them some sugar bricks and feed the honey when it's warmer?
Not if it is in jars. You can add a frame of capped honey next to the brood nest but they can't move liquids when it is cold. Crystals they can lick without lowering their body temperature.
15th, how cold is it now and what's your forecast? Here in the sandhills today high now 40? . I'm sure your colder. So please take caution before opening hives in cold weather! Please let other experience beeks
chime in. You may possibly be able to feed with dry sugar on newspaper or made up sugar bricks. (Don't take my word)
If i can ask why crush an strain and then feed back ?
Just mix it 3 parts icing sugar to 1 part honey and feed as Partys.
But also feeding it in a upside down jar is no problem, just thin it down with 10-30% Walter.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I kinda figured jar feeding as is wouldn't work, but just wanted to see if there was something I wasn't thinking of. I'll just feed sugar bricks for now and give them the honey once it warms up. And don't worry Mikey, I'll just sneak the bricks in the top. I have space built in for feeding under my moisture quilt, so I don't need to open the hive up all the way. It has been very cold here recently, just barely grazing 40 today, and that's really only because the sun was out, and our nights have been in the teens and 20's. The only reason I had some honey from crush and strain that I didn't want to eat myself was that I only got honey this year (my first year) because my one hive died. This was my first time doing crush and strain, and I had a frame that had a little bit of brood in with the honey, so I did that frame first just to sort of practice the crushing and straining, but I wasn't crazy about eating that myself because of the possibility of brood in it.
Sounds good to me, room for sugar and quilt top. Learn what's best in your area .
It's not the same everywhere IMHO