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  • overfeeding??!!

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #10314  by JoJo36
 21 Mar 2021, 07:48
Hello Everyone
Is it possible to overfeed your bees over winter?!
I gave my hives a full super each and they still took down fondant and
pollen patties and now the still have the supers full of sugar feed in
frames and are still munching the patties!
When the spring flow begins, should I take off the supers completely so
they may start filling 'real honey' in an empty super placed directly above
brood boxes?!
One of the hives has already got around 3-4 frames of sealed brood??!!
Any advice is helpful as I messed up last year loosing a queen through
swarming mistaking for supercedure, squashing one and one was a drone
layer:(
 #10316  by Patrick
 21 Mar 2021, 10:54
Hi JoJo

The beguiling “it’s only a few queen cells = maybe supercedure? = book says do nothing with them!” in May to July is nearly always a red herring which leads to a lost swarm. Its caught most of us out at some point (me included).

How much to feed is always a challenge and better to overfeed than the opposite. Personally I only add fondant when the hive is definitely starting to feel light, not as maintenance. I see you are in the SW, so your spring flow may start earlier than most and I rather doubt they will clear it all out now. Check they have stores in the brood chamber as well, so not to remove the super and inadvertently take all their stores with it.

Unless I had lots of supers spare, I might extract it to a bucket and then feed back as required later on. It shouldn’t ferment.

Getting winter feeding right is often tricky. Different bees and different weather always make it something you have to monitor and respond to.
 #10317  by NigelP
 21 Mar 2021, 10:57
It is indeed.
But better overfed thean underfed and dead...so a good "problem" to have.
I'd certainly remove all frames from super and also most brood frames that are clogged with stores. You don't want them moving these sugar stores upwards from clogged brood frames into and a now empty super and you want to generate empty frames to give the queen room to lay in.
My thoughts for me are that I would leave a single sugar filled/clogged brood frame and keep an eye on it. If the the weather is bad and they work their way through that frame then add another back. Store the rest and save them to give back next winter or add as extra feed to any nucs/new hives you make up this coming season.
 #10320  by JoJo36
 21 Mar 2021, 11:49
Hi Nigel & Patrick
Thanks for your advice/opinions and I think in a week or so I will take them off and keep for winter, checking of course they have plenty still in the brood frames and it is still chilly out there!!
Its really a guessing game and I seem to have made so many mistakes last year I just don't want to repeat them again!!
Plan of action, check again when warmer in a week or two and remove clogged supers and replace with a fresh super with drawn comb:)
My next problem then is my third hive I obtained from a farmer last year, its on a commercial brood and super which is literally falling apart. I'm intending doing a daily comb change in a week or two and am wondering whether I should put new brood box above brood and super already on or just above brood which is I think the way to go and feed syrup until frames drawn out in brood and queen possibly up there??!!
Thanks again for your help and its reassuring to be able to ask "stupid" questions without risking being a pain in the neck to others!!:)
 #10322  by Patrick
 21 Mar 2021, 17:52
Ask away, it’s what this is for.

When you say it’s falling apart, is that just the boxes and the frames and combs are okay or is the whole lot shot?

Often semi-abandoned colonies are on combs that are knackered and have may have loads of chalk brood etc. so putting them on fresh kit is very sensible. Are they quite strong or somewhat diminished?

If they are quite strong and I had any already drawn spare combs, I might just shake all the bees onto a fresh box / nuc of foundation with a few drawn combs and then feed them. It’s a bit brutal but just gets on with it and you know what’s where. A couple of already drawn combs really help.

The Bailey change usually works ok but I have had them initially ignore the foundation in the new box and just store the syrup in the old combs. Very annoying. And it’s a multi stage process.
 #10325  by JoJo36
 21 Mar 2021, 18:14
Hi Patrick
The brood box and super is falling apart, its flaking off pieces of wood and the frames and combs look vey worn and old.
Luckily the colony seems large so its either a bailey comb change or a shook swarm, I think I'll have to opt for the bailey as I don't have any drawn super frames and feel syrup to get them going. The queen who I've never seen has even started laying in the super!
I've got some ambrosia syrup but I think for getting the combs drawn out I was going to make a 1-1 syrup??!!
Weather still only about 11-12 degrees so not really warm enough for me to do anything with any of the hives yet I don't think although I was itching today to remove the supers on the other two hives but I managed to stop myself!
Plenty of bees flying in with pollen on all three!
 #10326  by JoJo36
 21 Mar 2021, 18:15
Sorry correction, I don't have any spare drawn brood frames not supers!
 #10327  by Steve 1972
 21 Mar 2021, 22:01
I have a million things going around in my head that could fix a million problems...sadly you have problems that me or other experienced beekeepers can not see with our own eyes..Try to put some images up on the forum..it is hard work initially but once you get the hang of it it is easy..
 #10332  by Patrick
 22 Mar 2021, 09:48
Sounds like you have a considered plan JoJo, so go for it. It seems pretty vigorous, which is good and worth having.
 #10337  by NigelP
 22 Mar 2021, 11:42
My tendency would be to go for a shook swarm. Nick a few drawn frames from your other hives and any comb with brood cut out to fit into an empty national frame and hold it in place with elastic bands or string. This brood is important as it's its the first new bees so you don't want to be loosing them .
feed and let them get on with it.