more experienced feedback re:wintering required

[Algonam]

I just returned from my beekeeping supplier.

I have another question for you !!

He was telling me I should take all honey from the hive except for a bit in the bottom box. Then he said, when Fall comes to feed them a ratio of 2.5/1 sugar water syrup and they will put that in stores. He says they will winter better this way.
I'm pretty sure I've only read about having honey in stores and we all talked about how much honey to have in stores just a couple of days ago.

But still.....I'd like to hear your opinions on this.
I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

[VolunteerK9]

Personally, I would leave them the honey and scratch the fall feeding of sugar. Take a frame or two for personal use (seeing the other pics you had looked like you were close to being honey bound anyways). Extract a frame or two and put it back inside the hive for them to clean up and reuse. Alot of commercial beeks that depend on the sale of honey will extract everything and then do a heavy fall feeding of sugar due to sugar being cheaper than honey. But I dare say that in the long run, your bees will benefit from you leaving them their own honey.

[FRAMEshift]

Syrup is usually specified by the ratio of sugar to water.  You can't make a 2.5:1 solution of sugar to water.  2:1 is difficult to make.  I use a 3:2 ratio.

You can pull  and freeze most of the honey now, leaving enough to get the bees through any dearth in your area.  In the Fall, check to see if the bees have added enough stores to get through winter.  If they don't have enough, give them back enough of their honey to get them through winter.  The reason not to leave the honey in the hive is that the foragers in a dearth will just eat it.

This is how we do it here, but in Canada things may be different.  I don't know that you even have a dearth.

[AllenF]

I won't say that syrup is better than honey for the bees, but sugar is a whole lot cheaper than honey.   Most commercial guys sell all the honey out of the hive then replace with syrup.   The only good thing with the syrup is it can be medicated.   I try to leave enough honey in the hives for the winter myself.

[Kathyp]

another thing to consider....if you fed earlier in the year or even last fall, the stuff in your brood boxes may not be honey that you want to eat.  it may be capped syrup.  the only way you would know is to have known what was in your brood boxes when you quit feeding. 

[Algonam]

I am not sure if this would apply to me.
When I started up exactly 2 months ago, there weren't any blossoms, so I gave them a bit of sugar/water and a pollen patty. At total of 3 quarts for each of my 2 hives was given to them.

[Michael Bush]

There are beekeepers who believe that bees winter better on sugar syrup.  There are beekeepers who believe they winter better on honey.  There are studies that they get less nosema on honey, especially dark honey.

I leave them honey.

[T Beek]

If you were a bee what would you prefer?  Honey stores or sugar syrup?

thomas

[Scadsobees]

If you were a bee what would you prefer?  Honey stores or sugar syrup?

thomas

Honey...sugar...who cares?  Do you know how long they have to sit in there without any light and without pooping?  Ugh....I'd need it fermented... who cares about flavor at that point!!

[Finski]

I use to extrct all honey from hives. Bees over winter with sugar splended.

He most important for bee healthy is pollen store. Honey has energy and pollen has everything else nutritions.

If bees have no pollen in frames after winter they are not able to start brood rearing.

20 kg sugar for winter is not much as money. But 20 kg honey is very valuable. Here it is 12 more valuable than sugar.

My bees live with sugar from September to May. It is  9 months.

I do not ask from bees what they like or disslike. I know the answer. They do not like me.

Has anybody asked from cow, does it want that its milk is stealed or from potatoe, does it want to be eaten.

[FRAMEshift]

My bees live with sugar from September to May. It is  9 months.

To keep colonies alive on backyard and feed sugar all year around is like keep aquarium fishes or feed sparrows.

:evil:

[VolunteerK9]

A little contradictory huh?

[Scadsobees]

A little contradictory huh?

Not really...there are far more people feeding sparrows and keeping aquarium fish than keep bees, much less feed bees sugar.  The point is is that it works and people do it.

For the record, I overwinter on honey, but mostly because I get enough for what I need and don't need the extra work.

[VolunteerK9]

A little contradictory huh?

Not really...there are far more people feeding sparrows and keeping aquarium fish than keep bees, much less feed bees sugar.  The point is is that it works and people do it.

I wasnt saying that it doesnt work. To me it, Finski contradicted himself between the two seperate posts. On one topic is was implied that to feed bees year round like aquarium fish was a bad thing then later states that he feeds his 9 months out of the year.

[Scadsobees]

No problem, I have an aquarium, so I don't see that as a bad thing nor contradictory :-D .  I don't think he meant it as a bad thing.

[Finski]

A little contradictory huh?

Not really...there are far more people feeding sparrows and keeping aquarium fish than keep bees, much less feed bees sugar.  The point is is that it works and people do it.

I wasnt saying that it doesnt work. To me it, Finski contradicted himself between the two seperate posts. On one topic is was implied that to feed bees year round like aquarium fish was a bad thing then later states that he feeds his 9 months out of the year.

yes, you are so funny to discuss about what person says, not the actual  issuethat is verbal acrobaty.

I have contradicted nothing. I put my bees to winter rest at the beginning of Septermber.
Bees start to get food outside at thee end of May.  during that time they eate sugar.
I feed the hives once in September.

When I read us forum, you feed hives  all the time encourage to this ad that. "now i have brood box full, how much i feed sugar to get super full".  in July!

I got now an average yield over 100 kg/hive. And no sugar feeding during summer.
Tear from that. My biggest hives have 7-8 boxes.  perhaps youmake some controversy joke about that too.  

my yield season started a month ago and after one week it is over.

Then vegetation startsto prepare for wnter. After one  month I am feeding my bees for winter. Honey off and sugar in. Then bees are in peace up to Marsh.

.

[Finski]

For the record, I overwinter on honey, but mostly because I get enough for what I need and don't need the extra work.

that makes you a great guru with 3000 writings.

Get enough  and no extra work. Seems like city council  worker ? The office workers swet is the best cancer medicine. Put it into bottle.

[FRAMEshift]

When I read us forum, you feed hives  all the time encourage to this ad that. "now i have brood box full, how much i feed sugar to get super full".  in July!

You feed your bees when they need it.  So do we.  We feed packages and splits in early JULY because we have a dearth.  It is summer but there is no nectar.  If we don't feed them in the dearth, there will be no bees for a Fall buildup.  They will not survive the Winter if we wait until September to feed them.

You don't understand the dearth because you don't have a dearth.   You feed your bees more sugar than we do.   And still you criticize us for feeding too much.   :?   You feed sugar for 9 months and we feed for  2 months.  But 2 weeks of that is in July.

[BlueBee]

Finski sounds a bit cantankerous today :), but what he says makes sense to me (at least in my climate).

[cam]

Finski sounds a bit cantankerous today :), but what he says makes sense to me (at least in my climate).

I agree with Finski too. And I don't blame him for his shortness... gets a little old.