Feeders and Foragers

[Moonshae]

Do foragers collect the syrup or honey provided in hive feeders, thus reducing the number of bees leaving the hive to forage, or do other bees take up the transportation job of moving the food into cells, leaving the foragers to continue foraging outside the hive?

[Mici]

i think that the bees will never take as much syrup as they would forage in nature. don't really know why, but they're smart so i guess they know their priorities and what's better for them.

now...why are you worried about this thing, coz....if you're feeding, that honey won't be all that good so...really not a thing to ponder/worry about now is it?

[Brian D. Bray]

When a feeder is placed on a hive it will be harvested by both forager bees and bees at an intermediate level between nurse and forager.  About 90% of the forager bees will still forage outside the hive so there is no real loss of labor. 

The only bees you should be feeding this time of year are swarms or splits to get them started.  Feed them a gallon of syrup and let them go.  Feed again after labor day if you're worried about winter stores if they haven't produced enough by then.

[Moonshae]

now...why are you worried about this thing, coz....if you're feeding, that honey won't be all that good so...really not a thing to ponder/worry about now is it?

I won't be collecting any honey this year, since both hives were started from packages. I'm more interested in helping them develop rapidly and make stores for the winter.

I only asked because I was curious how bees alter their behavior to take advantage of a food source within the hive as opposed to one outside.