Do I harvest honey or not

[qabloona]

 :This is my first year and considering the rain my 2 hives have done quite well. I was not going to take any honey this year but an experienced bee-keeper with 200 hives said to take the honey and feed them sugar water. Do I take it all, part or none ?

Many thanks

[gardeningfireman]

I am a first year beekeeper, myself. I wouldn't even consider taking honey out of the brood boxes. The bees need that for the winter. The only honey you should take is what is in the supers. And out of that, I would freeze a couple frames for emergency feeding in late winter/early spring.
Alan

[iddee]

In Ottawa, I would take off all over 125 lbs.Leaving 125 should carry them over and be ready for a split in the spring, if desired.

[Joelel]

:This is my first year and considering the rain my 2 hives have done quite well. I was not going to take any honey this year but an experienced bee-keeper with 200 hives said to take the honey and feed them sugar water. Do I take it all, part or none ?

Many thanks

You never take honey out of your brood boxes and you should have two lg. ones and I'm in Texas,USA. In Canada i would save some from a supper also.Put them in the freezer. It costs alot more to feed them.

[David LaFerney]

i would save some from a supper also.Put them in the freezer. It costs alot more to feed them.

I wouldn't argue against feeding honey instead of candy or syrup, but how do you figure that "it cost a lot more to feed them"?  

I just now finished making 11 quarts of 2-1 sugar syrup with 10 dollars worth of sugar.  For the sake of argument lets say that is the caloric equivalent of 5 quarts of honey.  Around here $5 a quart for honey is an awesome deal, and 7-8 is much more usual.  It seems to me that feeding is a lot less expensive.  Not better, but cheaper.

From a pure profit point of view harvesting honey that is worth up to 4 dollars a pound and feeding back sugar that is fifty cents a pound is pretty simple math.

If you are a 200+ hive bee keeper I imagine you have to work hard to keep the bottom line black.  If you are a hobbyist you can probably afford to feed your bees honey.

[Hethen57]

Assuming you are not pillaging your two deep (or equivalent) brood nest, I would harvest some honey...that is what you are raising them for, and it is fun to get some reward for all of your effort.  I hear of lots of people who put all this effort in, don't harvest, then their bees don't even make it through winter and they are left to start over or quit.  If your bees have some extra, don't feel guilty....it is the reward for good management.  Alternatively, if you are talking about the honey within your brood nest, then no, they don't have any extra and you may have to wait until next year.
-Mike

[qabloona]

I did the same math :). Assuming that there is a financial advantage to harvesting honey and feeding sugar water, why would you leave any honey ?  :?

[David LaFerney]

I did the same math :). Assuming that there is a financial advantage to harvesting honey and feeding sugar water, why would you leave any honey ?  :?

For the same reason that when you stock your pantry for winter you don't do it with potato chips and twinkies.

[gardeningfireman]

Good answer!! :-D

[Joelel]

I did the same math :). Assuming that there is a financial advantage to harvesting honey and feeding sugar water, why would you leave any honey ?  :?

Right,take all the honey and feed them all winter.

[Joelel]

I did the same math :). Assuming that there is a financial advantage to harvesting honey and feeding sugar water, why would you leave any honey ?  :?

For the same reason that when you stock your pantry for winter you don't do it with potato chips and twinkies.

Right,if you don't leave them enough,they can eat the honey a month and sugar water a month,what's the difference ?

[qabloona]

I've read that some studies have shown that it is actually beneficial for the bees to feed on sugar water rather than honey. Has anyone tried both methods at the same time on different hives ?

[Joelel]

I've read that some studies have shown that it is actually beneficial for the bees to feed on sugar water rather than honey. Has anyone tried both methods at the same time on different hives ?

Bees need protean ,they need pollen as well as nectar.If you feed bees a long time,you need to feed them pollen as well.

Feeding and Watering

Feeding
Honeybees need to be fed periodically to supplement their natural food sources.  Bees require a high-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, which is naturally gleaned from nectar and pollen.  But there will be times when adequate food supplies are not naturally available, so you may need to feed the bees just to keep them from starving.  There are other times when you need to supplement their diet to encourage comb building and brood production, including:

You have installed a package of bees in a new hive

You are preparing for requeening

You are preparing the colony for winter

During early spring when the hive population has dwindled

When a colony is weak and needs to increase its population

The frequency with which you supplement your bees' diet is determined by the situation at hand.  In general, performing periodic apiary inspections will tell you whether the bees need to be fed.  The following sections give you more information on specific food, how it is prepared, and when to administer it.  You may feed your colonies multiple types of food at the same time if they need it.

Sugar Syrup
A honeybee colony needs to be fed a sugar-water solution, or sugar syrup, when it is first introduced into a new hive.  Syrup is used as a means for administration of medication or to stimulate comb and brood production in a weak hive.  Syrup is also required during a period of nectar dearth, such as during the early spring or during a prolonged drought.  And if you are replacing the queen (requeening), it is important to administer syrup one day before the old queen is removed and continue feeding for at least a week after the new queen is installed.
Pollen Substitute
A pollen substitute is any material that can adequately replace pollen in the honeybee's diet, and typically includes soybean flour, powdered skim milk, brewer's yeast, or a mixture of these.  Substitutes are used in place of pollen to stimulate brood rearing in periods of pollen shortage, such as early spring or during a drought.  Pollen substitutes are also needed during the first two weeks after installing a package of bees or a swarm in an empty hive.  And substitutes are invaluable in a more arid environment where there is little or no natural pollen during a portion of the foraging season.
Pollen Supplement
A pollen supplement may be administered at any time to stimulate brood production.  This is especially important during a time of nectar dearth (when there is no natural source of pollen for the bees to collect) or when the bee colony is first introduced into a new hive.  However, pollen substitutes are generally preferred as a more general-purpose, complete pollen replacement.  Pollen supplements are more commonly used to encourage brood development, as they are commonly prepared in patty form to be placed in the hive.  However, supplements do not always provide complete nutrition as a pollen substitute.  When in doubt, use a pollen substitute.
See also: Pollen Substitutes vs. Supplements

Grease and Extender Patties
BeeCARE recommends feeding grease patties all year round, even during the winter, to combat tracheal mites.  When mixed with terramycin, a grease patty is called an extender patty, and is also used to control American and European foulbrood.

Note: If your hives are infested with Small Hive Beetles (SHB), you should immediately remove and discontinue using all supplemental food inside the hives, including sugar syrup, grease patties, extender patties and pollen patties.  The syrup and patties are a rich food source for the beetles, encouraging their rapid spread throughout the honeybee colony.  The presence of supplemental food within the hive makes SHB control very difficult and endangers both honey production and the colony's survival.  A better alternative is to use an external bucket feeder for dry feeding, in or near the apiary, which may be used to administer dry sugar, pollen substitutes and terramycin soluble powder.

Watering