What to feed and how????

[harvey]

I have read in here a lot of people feeding the bees to stimulate brood buildup and pulling comb ect....  I have a new hive of bees, one fair size swarm and one small swarm that I combined.  One brood box has nine frames it is an old one that someone gave me and the frames had some comb and a little honey still in them, the other brood box is brand new from Dadent with wood frames and plastic center coated with bee's wax.  Now it looks like a lot of bees to me but this is my very first hive.   

What could i feed them to help them in the brood box and start or help with building comb?

How do you feed them?  I have no idea,  do I need to buy a special feeder?

[tillie]

If you have bees with no wax comb, they need to get started quickly so as not to miss the flow in your area.  If that's the case, you can feed them but at this time of year, be careful because the feed needs to be exclusive to your hive to avoid robbing and melee in your beeyard.  To accomplish that, one way is to use Ziploc baggies. 

Make up a syrup of 1:1 sugar to water, dissolved well.  Pour this into a Ziploc Baggie.  Place the ziploc directly on top of the frames in the hive.  Put an empty super around the ziploc (or an Imrie shim if you have time/equip to build one).  Take a sharp knife and slash two cuts in the top of the ziploc, being careful to only go through the top layer of the plastic.  Make sure the baggie is lying flat on top of the frames.  Close up the hive.

Check often.  If the bees need to be fed, they'll run through the syrup really quickly.

Linda T in Atlanta

[indypartridge]

Sounds like you've got a lot to learn, so let me make a few suggestions.

Read, read, read. Check your local library for books & videos on beekeeping. Check out the tutorials on the main Beemaster page. "Tillie" who posted above, has a great beekeeping blog with lots of good info for beginners (the link is in her sig). Also check out Michael Bush's site: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

Get involved with a local beekeeping club. Clubs often offer beginning beekeeping classes and are great places to find mentors and get connnected with nearby beekeepers.
http://www.michiganbees.org/whoswho.htm
http://www.sembabees.org/

[Kathyp]

another way to feed is with a jar over the inner cover hole.  make small holes in the jar lid and invert syrup over opening.  the advantage to this kind of feeding is that you can see easily how much they are taking. 

if rain threatens, you can put another super over the feeder to keep water out of hive.

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

here are some instructions and examples.

[dragonfly]

My tendency in feeding bees is to follow Sammataro's guidelines:

The following proportions (by volume) of sugar to water should be fed, depending on the season and the purpose for the feeding:

1:1 ratio, sugar:water, for spring feeding.
2:1 ratio, sarar:water, for fall feeding.
1:2 ratio, sugar:water, to stimulate brood rearing.

[Robo]

I prefer inverted jars
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/feeder-compare/

[dragonfly]

Wow Robo, that's a really nice page/ site. ;)
I love the Boardman due to ease of use, but in the "old lady" hive I'm building, I'm cutting in a slot toward the back of the hive box to help prevent robbing. It's a hand-made feeder, for a handmade hive, but I think it will be pretty effective.

[NasalSponge]

What unit of measure do you use?? One cup to one cup, one pound to one pound, one pound to one pint??

[Kathyp]

1/2 container to 1/2 a container  :-D

i go a little heavier in favor of the sugar.  it's not science, but it's part art.

[dragonfly]

What unit of measure do you use?? One cup to one cup, one pound to one pound, one pound to one pint??

going by volume would be cup to cup.

[Robo]

What unit of measure do you use?? One cup to one cup, one pound to one pound, one pound to one pint??

Either is close enough, so use whatever is easiest for you

[Michael Bush]

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