New Colony

[pauvil]

I'm wondering, I watched some videos about getting new bees. When you put them into the hive body for the first time should you feed them?

[NWIN Beekeeper]

[When you put them into the hive body for the first time should you feed them?]

Absolutely!

Your bees (if from a package) have been living on the energy from the honey in their stomachs for however long their trip has been.  And when they get put into a new hive, there isn't going to be anything there for them to eat.  So by feeding you give them a boost. 

Furthermore, feeding stimulates the bees to draw wax.
This will aid them in building new combs.  Feeding also allows them to have food even through the evening and night when they will not forage.

So ideally, you want to feed until your bees have built to the point you begin collecting honey.
It is unethical to feed bees while honey super are on, as the bees will place the syrup in the honey supers.

I hope this has stimulated some thought!
And good luck with starting.

Have you decided where your bees are coming from and what variety you are planning on?
Are you set with equipment? How many are you planing to start with? 

-Jeff

[JP]

I'm wondering, I watched some videos about getting new bees. When you put them into the hive body for the first time should you feed them?

Pauvil, there will usually be a can of syrup, inverted inside of the package so the bees will not starve, but as Jeff has mentioned they will need feed of some sort, either sugar water that you feed them or nectar from flowers in your area. If the flowers in your area are not putting out nectar, your bees will take syrup, but if they are, your bees will more than likely ignore the syrup. You generally feed them until they stop taking your feed.

Sincerely, JP

[NWIN Beekeeper]

[...there will usually be a can of syrup, inverted inside of the package so the bees will not starve...]

WOAH!

Sorry, my post did sound like there wasn't anything to eat since they were packaged - that's not what I meant.

They could only have the food in their stomach (if the feed can is empty) - I should have been much clearer on that!

Of course that depends on transit times (where they came from, how long mailing took, did they sit on any loading docks, etc.).

Thanks for catching my mistake!

-Jeff

[Kathyp]

when packages come around here, there usually is not much blooming yet.  we get ours the 2nd or 3rd week of April.  pollen patties and syrup to get them going.  they have a lot of stuff to do and it takes them a little time to locate food sources. 

[DayValleyDahlias]

May I use the same type feeder ( inverted plastic paint can which sits upside down on top of hole in center of migratory top )...that I used in the Fall?? :-D

[Michael Bush]

I would feed them at least until they have some combs of honey for stores.  Otherwise a cold rainy spell could set them back a lot.

[DayValleyDahlias]

But may I use that TYPE of feeder??

Many thanks ( or does it have to be another type, as I am getting ready to place my orders for mediums, PF 120's and other bee stuff )....

[Brian D. Bray]

But may I use that TYPE of feeder??

Many thanks ( or does it have to be another type, as I am getting ready to place my orders for mediums, PF 120's and other bee stuff )....

Yes, some types of feeders function better than others.  My top 2 are converted 1 gallon paint cans and quart to gallon jars.

[Understudy]

Bees that come in a package should come with a label that says:

FEED ME

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[JP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGRN39oifsE

FEED ME!!!!!!!!!!


.......JP :-D

[Cindi]

OK, chiming in here.  Package bees will consume incredible amounts of syrup (or honey) for building comb.  We were taught in our beekeeping courses that package bees (nucs, whatever) should be fed sugar syrup for an approximate number of 6 weeks.  This is two brood cycles.  It takes about  6 weeks for the bees to have enough foraging members to really get things swinging in their hives.  There will be a huge amount of bees dying during the first few weeks after hiving a package, then, after the six weeks, the colony builds up really quickly.  They must be fed.  Especially, for example, like what has already been mentioned, when there may be a time when the bees cannot fly, like in the unfortuante event of some bad weather, they need their food stores to hold them over these temporary times when foraging is impossible.

Feed those bees.  Have a wonderful and great day, Cindi

[DayValleyDahlias]

LOL feed me Seymore...

I understand the importance for feeding package bees, I just wanted to make sure that thet TYPE of feeder I plan to use is ok.  Plastic paint bucket with lil screen, which I place atop the open hole on the migratory cover...this is fine?  Will they find it okay??  I have never used those frame feeder, I hear bees drown in them....

[metzelplex]

     I have never used  or seen a plastic paint bucket used to feed is it filled then inverted ? but I have used inside frame feeders and some bees did drown so I bought 8th inch hardware cloth and bent it like an acordian back and forth the full length of the feeder so that the bees would have something to stand on kind of like a ladder instead of just the side of the feeder and it worked fine no dead bees .There is a company that advertises a bee ladder in the bee journal they say their product works and no more dead bees I was told that oliveras changed their whole outfit to those bee ladders and they are huge in pollination and in queen production and they have over  10,000 hives so my guess is that those bee ladders probably work other wise that would be a big expense for nothing I  don't have thier money so I just used hardware cloth. Old window screen would probably work too if it was stiff enough . I know I still didn't answer your question about the plastic paint bucket sorry but I've never seen that before .Well I hope this  helps a little bit .     metzelplex

[indypartridge]

I understand the importance for feeding package bees, I just wanted to make sure that thet TYPE of feeder I plan to use is ok.  Plastic paint bucket with lil screen, which I place atop the open hole on the migratory cover...this is fine?  Will they find it okay??  I have never used those frame feeder, I hear bees drown in them....

Type of feeder doesn't matter much. My first hive all I had was a quart Boardman feeder and it worked fine. Bucket feeders are good because they hold more and don't need to be filled daily. Frame feeders are fine if you have a float or rig up something with wire mesh as metzelplex described. My personal favorite are top feeders, but I've accumulated several types of feeders and use them as needed.

[Michael Bush]

Any kind of feeder will work if the weather is reasonably warm.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm

[Cindi]

Sharon, there are many ways to feed.  You have had examples.  Another example is to use a quart of gallon glass jar with holes punched in the lid, this works too.  Whether you use a pail or a glass jar or even paint cans, I think that Brian uses paint cans, the holes need to be punched, they need to be small enough that the liquid does not pour out.  There is specific size, if my memory serves well.  Some people worry about using plastic because of expansion that could occur.  But the plastic pails are pretty strong, I would not worry too terribly much about that.

There has been a new method as well that people are using. I don't think it is overly new, but with the advent of freezer bags that are tough stuff, they are being used too.  That is what I used for feeding last fall, and it works a wonder.  It is simple, so easy to pack around.  I used the large Glad freezer bags with the double zipper and sliced slices in the bag, crossways to which way the frames run.  It worked fantastic and like I said was easy to pack around.  I put the filled sugar syrup baggies into a pail and carried them to the apiary and then placed the baggies on top of the inner cover, which had a extra super on some and some an Imirie shim to house the baggies.  Even with the use of an inverted pail or jar, you will still need a super to keep the apparatus inside of.

In this picture below, you will see the baggie placed on top of the inner cover (my draw quilt is there too, you will remember be speaking of the use of a draw quilt to keep the bees happier when the roof of their house is ripped off, sounds nasty eh?).  My Husband had made a hole in the inner cover (towards the end because the baggie would not have fit properly if the hole was in the middle, as most inner covers will have the hole made).  I mostly closed off the hole, so that there was not a gaping amount of area for the heat of the cluster to escape.

I have used inner frame feeders too, yes, bees can drown, so I am not sold on these, a bee ladder would work well, of course.  But I like the convenience of the baggie feeder.  With the inner frame feeder, it takes up an entire space and a half in the super, and I don't like that.

The second picture showed cappings and comb scraped off that I had placed on the inner cover. I had made a post a couple of days ago about whether bees would clean up the honey in crush and strain muck, the answers all came back yes.  The reason I had asked because when I put the cappings on the inner cover before, it was only soft cappings, not the muck that came with the crush and strain. So that is why I was wondering if they would utilize the honey in the crushed muck. 

You will hear lots more answers to your queery, just keep asking if you don't get satisfied with any answers.  We are all here to help each other.  Have the best of this wonderful day, Cindi



The cappings and frame scraping that were put on last fall, not mucked up like in the crush and strain:

[pauvil]

I will be trapping a swarm, and I'm very set with the hives, I'll start with three.

Thanks everyone!

[DayValleyDahlias]

Great, excellent, thanks for the wonderful responses...I would feel horrid if I was the cause of the bee's demise.  I will figure out which way to feed...

Thank you all so very,

Sharon