Feeding question (long post!)

[Drone]

Hey Folks,

My wife and I have been anticipating our entry into beekeeping this spring. We have been reading and learning since last fall. We have been assembling equipment and we have also ordered 2 nucs from a local beekeeper, which we plan to pick up in late March or early April.

In mid January, we found a hive/colony for sale on Craig’s List. We picked it up on a mild day, set it up in our yard, and were amazed by the amount of bees performing their orienting/cleansing flights.

A few weeks later, we decided to have a peek inside on a warm day. We already knew there was a mite issue since the bottom board was littered with them, as well as a lot of bees emerging with deformed wings. We weren’t sure how much food they had because we just didn’t know how heavy a hive should be. This was 2 deeps, a medium super, a Styrofoam top feeder and a Styrofoam top, with no ventilation.

Upon opening the hive we found LOTS of condensation, a mostly empty super (only a couple of frames were drawn with a little bit of capped honey), a queen excluder under the super that was so full of burr comb that there were only a few little holes for the bees to get through. I don’t think this hive has been opened in a very long time considering how clogged with comb it was.

We removed all of the Styrofoam, peeled of the excluder, and basically put it back together with the super body, the two frames with a bit of honey, two quart mason jars with 1:1 sugar syrup and Fumigilin-B,  pine inner cover and telescoping top with popsicle sticks to aid in ventilation. We also started to treat for the mites with Mite Away (formic acid) pads inside the mostly empty super.

Last weekend was very warm, so we did a major inspection and clean up. I pulled all frames, removed all of the excess burr comb, swapped upper and lower deeps and added a screened bottom board.

I was happy to see that we have TONS of bees (20 deep frames were completely covered), lots of brood, eggs, pollen and about 4 deep frames full of capped honey. I also saw a lot of mites in the capped brood that was torn open while removing the excess burr comb.

I am basically finished treating with the Fumigilin-B and have 10 days left on the Mite Away treatment. I have heard that I should not stop feeding until the nectar flow, but it seems like they have more than enough food. They are currently taking 2 quarts of syrup every 2 or 3 days. After the mite treatment, I will add a medium super of 10 frame wax foundation. The nectar flow should be very close to starting by then.

Should I keep feeding since they are taking the syrup so aggressively, or should I stop? I did not see a lot of empty cells during the inspection, but I added two more frames to the super (the super currently has 4 frames, a formic acid pad and 2 mason jars of 1:1) . The frames in the supers will be for the bees; not for human consumption.

Sorry for such a long-winded post. Any feedback would be appreciated.

-John

[michelleb]

Sounds like you're doing well. If it's warm, I'd put that super with the 4 frames on top of the inner cover, and let the bees "rob" it out through the hole in the inner cover, if it's warm enough. They'll think the space over the inner cover is "not hive", and hopefully bring the stored syrup down. Then, you can remove and later use those frames for honey surplus but only if not on the hive while you treat. And, after removing the emptied frames (but before adding supers), if you still think you need to feed, you can use that hive top feeder or the jars. Or, you can do what I've been doing--add granulated sugar over a sheet of newspaper, directly on the top bars of the frame (I use a 1" shim to make space). A good solution, especially if you're having major moisture issues, or if you can't restock your syrup every couple days (my girls are 50 miles away). The bees will keep taking syrup/sugar until the flow kicks in in earnest. Just make sure they don't backfill their broodnest area and use up all the egg-laying room. This is also what the bees do when they prepare to swarm. And if your girls are as populated as you say, you might start thinking about making a split. Depending, of course, on available drones, and how consistent the weather is right now in Georgia.

If you leave the frames in the super directly over the hive right now, you risk the queen moving up and laying in them, or lots of bees building random comb in the empty space around the jars.

Sounds to me like the folks who sold you the colony gave up on their beekeeping hobby well before the end of the flow. Never keep an excluder between the brood and honey stores during winter, since the queen can be trapped below when the rest of the cluster moves up. Not saying YOU didn't know this, but figured it would be a good time to point it out.

[thegolfpsycho]

If your going to put the frames of honey over the inner cover, I would use your cappings fork and scratch the caps.  Open honey they bring down.  Capped comb, they sometimes move up. 

[drobbins]

keep in mind there are two reasons to feed this time of year
one is to keep them from starving, it doesn't sound like this applies to your hive
the other is to simulate nectar and stimulate brood rearing to build them up before the flow
if you do it for this reason, you want to avoid clogging the brood nest and getting them "honey bound"
if they're already full of honey you might want to steal a frame of it and replace it with an empty frame or a frame of foundation in the middle of the brood nest to give them room to grow
get em to crowded and they'll swarm

Dave

[Michael Bush]

Is there a nectar flow right now Raleigh?

[drobbins]

the maples are producing quite a bit of pollen but very little nectar
feeding seems to be a pretty good idea to me
it's still early spring, 7 weeks to the main flow (tulip poplar)

Dave

[Brian D. Bray]

Most new beekeepers, and some old ones, have a tendency to overfeed their bees.  If they don't need it don't feed.  It doesn't sound like you hive needs feeding.