Honey Stores Low, but Won't Take Sugar Water

[SawBee]

I have three top bar hives from packages May 30th. (new beek, so these are my first hives)  I have a fourth hive created about July 20 by taking a frame of queen cells from one of the 3 hives (that was superseded or swarmed) and a frame of brood and nurse bees from the other 2 hives.  All 4 hives now have laying queens and capped brood.  There are bees bringing in pollen and I assume nectar, but none of the hives have build up any honey stores.  I tried giving one hive sugar water in an inverted jar with holes in the lid, but after a week, I couldn't see that the syrup level had gone down at all.

I'm getting worried about the hives making it through winter with hardly any stored honey at this point.  I'm in eastern Kansas, and we probably have 4 to 6 weeks left before killing frosts. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

[annette]

Are you sure the jar is not plugged up or something???

[SawBee]

I guess the holes could be to small.  But when I took the jar out, there were several visible small bubbles of sugar water hanging below the holes.

I could try larger holes --but not so large as to cause constant dripping.

Thanks Annette

[annette]

I never feed this way because I am always worried about this very thing.  That perhaps the feeder will be plugged up or maybe drip to easily.  I know many beeks here do feed this way and hopefully at least one of them will come forth to help you.  I really do not have any experience with this type of feeder.

I use the top feeders and baggie feeders and prefer this way.

Perhaps wait to hear from someone else before making the holes bigger, because as you say it seems to be bubbling around the holes.

[jimmy]

The smallest nail you can find should be sufficient for holes. If you have a flow going on ,they probably won't take the sugar water. Other wise check the holes make sure they are unplugged.

[scdw43]

The holes should be 1/16 of an inch. Do they have drawn combs to store in ? If they do try feeding 2:1 they will store two to one better than 1 to 1.

[David LaFerney]

I've tried holes from 1/16 to a bit over 1/8 inch and sometimes they just don't take any when you think they would, and sometimes they suck it down like a frat boy on a beer bong.  If you think your hole might be too big set it on top of another jar or something and see if it leaks out excessively on its own.

I've been intending to do an experiment to see what the optimum hole size would be, but just haven't yet.

[BenC]

So you put an inverted jar of syrup in a place close to and accessible to the bees inside the hive but they never touched it?  did you spill a little syrup to get them started? I find that helps, as does adding something with an odor such as some mint or lemongrass.  If you want to see them feeding from a jar, try mixing a stronger syrup, as something out in the fields may be more attractive at the moment.  If there is nothing out there for them to forage upon, and as you say none of the colonies have stores, then another suggestion would be to try open feeding.  Set up a barrel 300yds out with sugar syrup and floats (straw works good) and put something smelly in it like crushed lemongrass or peppermint oil.  Start with a small amount (a gallon or 2) until the bees find it, that way it won't spoil before they get started on it.  once they've started collecting it add more.

[SawBee]

 The inverted jar was placed inside the top bar hive beside a couple of fully drawn empty combs.  The syrup I was attempting to feed is closer to 1.5 to 1 ratio. I'll try 2:1 to see if that helps.  There seems to be lots of blooming sunflowers and other wild flowers and weeds in bloom, so the natural nectar is likely more attractive than sugar water. They are bringing in some nectar I'm sure, they just seem to be using all they bring in and not storing any. Spilling a little sugar water to attract them also seems like a good idea.  I'm for sure going to try baggie feeders in at least one of the hives.  I did use baggie feeders when to new packages were started in May and they seemed to work OK. I was attempting jars to see if I could arrange it so refilling wouldn't disturb the whole have quite as much as baggies.

I may try feeding outside the hive,  I just don't want to set off robbing of what little stores they do have.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I'll make another attempt this weekend.

[RayMarler]

instead of sitting the sugar water next to empty combs, set it next to the open larva brood combs, then they'll take it. Especially during a nectar flow, the feed needs to be close to the open larva brood for them to take it well.