Winter Feeding

[bwallace23350]

When should I start winter feeding and what ratio? I have not harvested any honey and don't plan on it but the fall flow has been weaker than expected.

[Psparr]

Depends on the temperature. And how you are going to feed. A baggie on top of the frames will work pretty well in collet temps.
A 2:1 mix is good for fall.

[bwallace23350]

What is collet temps? I am going to feed to keep them alive. They will probably be able to forage around here I think I heard someone say until November.

[Acebird]

What is the configuration of your hives and how much do they weigh?  Plugging the hive could be as bad as starving.

[bwallace23350]

One hive is two ten frame deeps full of honey and brood. A honey super that is being filled slowly. Maybe two frames one week ago.

The other is two ten frame deeps full of honey and brood but only 7 frames on the top ten frame deep one week ago.

I did not weigh them.

[AR Beekeeper]

In your area you should be able to overwinter with stores equal to a medium of honey above a deep that has 4 to 6 frames of honey.  A full deep above and 4 frames of stores in the lower will last my bees until the spring nectar flow here in north Arkansas.  Our first reliable flow is usually the 3rd week in March and lasts 8 to 14 days.  This flow is from the Redbud Tree and is usually used for raising brood.

[beeman2009]

Given your location I'd say you should winter fine with what you have. Might even be able to pull a little off in the spring. You'll just have to see. I would keep close check on them as weather permits throughout the winter & if they need feed put a sugar brick or two in each hive. They will feed as needed on it regardless of temps. Also no danger of leaking syrup on bees and killing them.  Just my thought.

[bwallace23350]

Then I should be fine. I will check again in another week or two. Oh and I have no varroa. Is that odd?

[bwallace23350]

Yeah I will check them. We are far enough south that sometimes we still get highs in the 70's or upper 60's in the winter. My goal next year is to irrigate my golden rod around the pasture fences

[BeeMaster2]

BW,
Your bees should definantly have more food than they need. Adding food could cause robbing. Remember we get a maple flow in late December to February that the bees will use for the spring build up.
As soon as I recover from the gallbladder surgery I will be reducing my hives down to 2 medium brood boxes and a 3/4 filled medium honey super. I will remove everything that is left.
Jim

[bwallace23350]

Uh Oh. It appears that I will have a big learning curve coming up then soon.

[little john]

Uh Oh. It appears that I will have a big learning curve coming up then soon.

That made me smile.

Yes - when people talk about all beekeeping being local - they ain't kidding - that's the kind of thing they're talking about.

In Britain, many people religiously weight their hives because somebody somewhere once suggested it.  But we have erratic winters - in January it can be colder than Moscow, or we can be out cutting grass in shirt-sleeves - there's no way of knowing in advance - so imo, weighing hives is a pointless exercise: 'cause if you don't know what the winter temperatures are going to be, then you won't know how active the bees will be, and thus what stores they'll need.

Rather than weighing, I inspect every hive during early October and assess the need for feeding from what's present. Then - around the beginning of February (or January if it's been very warm) I place a small inverted jar of fondant, damp sugar, or hard candy over each crown board and use this as a 'fuel gauge'.  My girls won't touch it unless they run short of the genuine stuff. 
So then I just visually check those jars at regular intervals without disturbing the colonies in any way.  There are always left-overs which are used to make syrup for stock.
LJ

Jim - sorry to hear you've been under the knife - the last few weeks have certainly been 'interesting' for you.  Hope you'll be back in harness soon.

[bwallace23350]

Fortunately our winters are much more mild than that. If it ever gets in the teens or less we are having a super hard cold snap but things start budding out in early February and  a typical freeze does not happen to near Mid November. This year is tough as we have not had rain for over a month now though.

[little john]

I'll swap you some rain for a couple of warm days ...  I can't remember the last time we had three dry days in a row.  Two are pretty rare.  This season started off like that, and it's finishing in the same way.  The bit in-between wasn't that great either, but I've seen much worse summers.
Next year will be better ... forever the optimist.
LJ

[bwallace23350]

I am the same way. I say that every year about my garden. Next year will be the best