Spring feeding...

[Highlandsfreedom]

I was wondering if I should feed sugar water this early in Colorado?  The girls still have plenty of real honey stores as I didn't feed n the fall so they wont starve I THINK.  But it still gets down to freezing at night and in the upper 40 -to lower 50's at the day.  They should be fine if left alone but how can I really get them rocking for when the flow hits in a few weeks.... I'm guessing a few weeks here?  By plenty of stores I looked and saw that all the top frames still have about 1.5 inch of capped honey on all the frames. 

[sarafina]

My understanding is they won't take sugar water when it is that cold.  Also, once you start feeding you have to keep it up until the flow starts.  The danger in feeding early is it stimulates brood rearing and then you have a cold snap and they don't have enough nurse bees to cover them all.  This is just what I have seen on this board and read - no personal experience since I am already feeding as we are past any freezing weather.

Congrats on having enough stores and your bees making it though the winter!

[Finski]

When you have stores, don't feed them more.

Sugar water feeding does not stimulate brooding. It makes only pollen patty =protein.

It chould be allways in the hive about 2 full frames of food. It is at least 10 days store.

Do your bees get allready pollen from nature?

[Finski]

This is just what I have seen on this board and read - no personal experience

I have feeded hives 20 years with pollen patty. When you start feeding, the hive is ready to forage surplus 2 months later.

If the hive has pollen stores inside hive, they start brooding early but short of pollen stops larva feeding.

[Beaver Dam]

Highland, I would start feeding open asap. I did here in N Centeral Texas as soon as they were flying. I also fed Megabee which was good because there was no polen. Once polen started they didn't do the megabee thing.