I like the warm weather but do the bees ????????????

Started by backyard warrior, November 08, 2011, 04:27:26 PM

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backyard warrior

Being we are having this seasonably warm weather im concerned about my hives eating up there stores i fed alot this year already and it def was the worst thus far for me with honey crop this year im hoping that i dont have to feed but some of them feel light.  Chris

organicfarmer

Here in Eastern MA, feeding is over, bees don't take it despite warm temp (or maybe a little they'll consume immediately) I harvested almost nothing, and been feeding bunches, started early enough that most hives are on right track hopefully. Now, wait & see til late winter; maybe some emergency feeding after new year for 1-2 hives.

T Beek

Yep I was in the same boat about a month ago (there was a thread) w/ warm temps, bees flying in desperation seeking nonexistent forage.  I open fed for about six weeks going through about 100 lbs of sugar a week, then fed syrup inside until it got too cold and they stopped taking it.

If bees are flying and no forage is available for them you can bet they are consuming stores they'll/you'll wish they had come March/April.  My last act before snow fly is to add an empty super on top of inner covers and filling with dry sugar 'just in case."

thomas
"Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who say they've found it."

windfall

Thomas, did you really feed 600+lbs of sugar to 3 colonies this fall? What kind of shape were they in? what is your target weight?

I know I am new, but that seems like an astounding amount of feed.

T Beek

Astounding isn't the word my wife used :shock:  I actually bought 800 lbs, have four bags left.  We had a month (its actually still going on, I had bees flying yesterday) long dearth up here with daytime temps in the 70's-80's (nights in 40's) long after our first killing frost, and with open feeding (about six weeks worth) you can go through a lot very fast (a five gallon pail nearly every day). 

By September's end my bees had already consumed most of their stores, hives would get lighter every day, so although I had three booming colonies they would've had little honey and none would have made it to December if I had not fed. 

In fact, we're are still experiencing above average temps, nearly 50 yesterday.  My hives are still lighter than I'd like despite all the feeding, likely because they were consuming it as fast as I could provide, so I'll be adding dry sugar to all before I wrap up for winter.  My ultimate goal for winter is for them to be over 100lbs in 2-3 mediums with a full honey super on top.

People can dispute global warming and its causes all they want but instead of this being a boom year (based on how my bees were doing in September (packed with bees and honey and ready for winter) it may yet be a bust due to the strange weather. 

I seriously doubt there is little besides sugar syrup in any of my hives right now.  This has been an entirely new experience for me.  I've had years when I didn't have to feed at all, but NEVER a year when all they have is the feed I provided.

thomas
"Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who say they've found it."

backyard warrior

 t beek i dont know your experiences but i have had quite a few italian packages from down south and i have a few hives that are from vermont and the hives from vermont have much more stores and the hives from down south have lots of bees but the hives are very light. I guess there is some truth to northern breed queens dont ya think ???  Chris

T Beek

I agree 100%.  Local bees rule.  Unfortunately I know only three beeks w/in 100 miles of me (they get theirs from California) and none are raising their own nor are they interested, kinda sad really.  I feel I'm on my own for the most part.

However, I recently was in contact with another area beek who sells NUCs just a couple hours from me.  I have reserved one for Spring.

As said though, this was a first for me, I've never had to feed like this before and hope I never have to again.  My Texas bees from Beeweaver have always preformed very well in the past (this will be my 7th winter with honeybees).  It was a strange year.  My bees didn't even begin hitting on the goldenrod (which looked really good with ample blooms) until it was nearly done :?.  I don't think it produced much nectar this season, so my bees suffered.  And then there's the weather :'(

thomas
"Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who say they've found it."

Stone

Considering the very wet spring we had, I did well with honey.  Goldenrod flow up here was awesome and I took a good deal of honey but was careful to leave an abundance for the bees.  I haven't fed at all this year, but I'm going to start doing so this weekend. We've had extremely warm weather up here and I have a bad feeling about this. I'm very concerned my colonies won't have enough stores for the winter. Will peek inside this weekend and start feeding.  I think it's still warm enough to feed syrup - days in the 50s and nights above freezing.  Dry sugar on top of the inner cover is gonna be s.o.p. for me this year!

I'd be interested in what others are doing.

backyard warrior

50 lb blocks of fondant are  in order for me this year just in case they need it chris