dearth feeding

Texas66 · July 10, 2011, 04:50:17 PM

I want some advise. We are in a near dearth situtation in east Texas. I am going to start feeding , not daily but a couple times a week. If I feed 1;1, they will make more brood, more brood- more mouths to feed. If I feed 2;1 they fill the frames, then get crowded and swarm. So what is your opinions? The temp is at or over 100 degrees each day, rain is something most of these girls have never seen. Thanks Wes

sc-bee · July 10, 2011, 05:43:00 PM

Feed only if they need the feed and only as they need it. If you feed keep watch on the brood chamber to avoid honey(feed) bound.

Most don't feed 2:1 till closer to fall as they have evaluated their hives going into winter. But on other post I see alot of other ratios being used. Not sure it makes a difference to the bees what the ratio but most feel the 1:1 is easier for them to process in the spring than the 2:1. And some don't realize it is--- Sugar:Water.

AllenF · July 10, 2011, 10:38:12 PM

How do to bees look inside the hive? All drawn comb in 2 deep brood boxes or are they still building? Honey supers on? Do they need a little or a lot of growth? How many bees/ frames of brood/ frames of honey?

You have a long time until fall when you need to tell just how much food they have stored for winter.

VolunteerK9 · July 10, 2011, 10:46:10 PM

Mine would have to be darned near starving before I try to dearth feed again. It seems that you cant just feed a couple of hives that need it-every time Ive tried, robbing has occurred leaving the fed hive in worse shape than it was before it started. Ive even tried to counter it and fed every hive, only had 6 at the time, and the stronger hive inevitably robed out the weaker one anyways. If you plan on feeding, I would fill up a couple of small zip loc bags and place it on the hive at late evening and only feed what could be consumed within a few hours.

Michael Bush · July 10, 2011, 11:35:53 PM

If they have stores I wouldn't feed. If they are running short, I would feed everyone and reduce all entrances. I always feed 5:3 or 2:1. Dry sugar (wetted enough to keep them from hauling it out for trash) has the advantage that they don't tend to store it. You can even feed it open and probably not set off a feeding frenzy.

sc-bee · July 11, 2011, 12:46:38 AM

I thought you were a 1:1 spring and 2:1 fall man MB?

FRAMEshift · July 11, 2011, 12:56:03 AM

This idea of feeding all the hives at once is worth discussion. If you are feeding inside the hive, which bees are actually taking the syrup. Is it the house bees that take and store it.... or do foragers take it and pass it off to house bees as they would nectar. Everyone seems to assume that foragers don't take feed inside the hive... or in a top feeder for example. If that is the case, why would feeding all the hives at once prevent robbing? If the foragers only take syrup outside their own hive, they would still rob another hive, even if their own hive has syrup available.

If we have a hive that needs feed but is too weak to defend against robbers, we feed only the strong hives. Then we move the capped frames of stored syrup from the strong hives to the weak ones that need it. That seems to avoid robbing problems.

FRAMEshift · July 11, 2011, 12:58:41 AM

Quote from: sc-bee on July 11, 2011, 12:46:38 AM
I thought you were a 1:1 spring and 2:1 fall man MB?

We feed 3:2 whenever we need syrup. It is easier to make than 2:1 and it is stable for long periods, even in hot weather. People talk about 1:1 stimulating comb building, but I still have not talked to anyone who has done a side by side controlled comparison to prove that 1:1 is better than stronger syrup at stimulating comb or brood.

VolunteerK9 · July 11, 2011, 10:18:20 AM

Quote from: FRAMEshift on July 11, 2011, 12:56:03 AM

If we have a hive that needs feed but is too weak to defend against robbers, we feed only the strong hives. Then we move the capped frames of stored syrup from the strong hives to the weak ones that need it. That seems to avoid robbing problems.
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Very good idea..

AllenF · July 11, 2011, 02:12:03 PM

If you feed 1 to 1 syrup, they will start building brood. They will have to feed all the new young during a dearth. Fall feeding syrup ratios will cause they just to store it, which helps them during a dearth. But feed only if they need it. And watch out for robbing.

FRAMEshift · July 11, 2011, 02:22:40 PM

Quote from: AllenF on July 11, 2011, 02:12:03 PM
If you feed 1 to 1 syrup, they will start building brood.

So Allen, have you actually run a side by side study.... using 1:1 and 2:1 at the same time in hives of the same strength, to see if there is a difference in brood rearing based only on the concentration of the sugar? Even 1:1 is much more concentrated than nectar.

AllenF · July 11, 2011, 02:37:11 PM

Never tested it. Just know it. 1 to 1 ratio makes bees raise brood like in a spring flow. 2 to 1 ratio, they store up.