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British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Feeding g bees

  • Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
 #11919  by SuesBees
 08 Sep 2021, 08:56
As a VERY new beekeeper (I only got them at the end of July) I am a bit confused about feeding them. I've been feeding them 1:1 sugar solution since I had them. They look very happy and are well behaved. Should I continue with 1:1 or go to 2:1, and for how long?
 #11920  by AdamD
 08 Sep 2021, 09:21
The simple answer is - it depends!

1:1 syrup is something that the bees can use immediately so it is best for most of the year. However, in order to lay down winter stores, honey or syrup has to have it's moisture content reduced by the bees befoer it's capped, so it makes sense to give them the least possible work to do by giving them thick syrup. So from, say the middle of August, thick, 2:1 syrup is best. If all the sugar doesn't quite dissolve when you mix it up, then you can always sposh a little more water in, until it does, as the bees will sort it out. (Don't be too hung up on the ratios).

A July nuc is a fairly late one to get for a new beekeeper. How many frames of brood are there and is all the foundation drawn? And what hive is it? We will be able to answer better if you let us know.
(And have you treated for varroa?)
 #11921  by Patrick
 08 Sep 2021, 10:09
Hi Sue and welcome to the forum.

Feeding is often portrayed as a bit of a science and it doesn’t need to be. It’s just about ensuring your bees have enough to get through the winter until spring forage is available. However, depending on where you are and the next winter we get, “spring” in the UK could be anytime from late February to May 😁! If your bees get light you can always feed them a top up of fondant. The trick is monitoring during the winter occasionally by giving the hive a gentle lift and seeing if it still feels heavy. If it gets very light and there is plenty of winter still to go, bung on some fondant.

Pending your replies to Adam’s queries (around whether they are in a full hive and have a full set of drawn combs), as a general indication, for me living in the SW I typically aim to finish feeding by end September / early October and feed about 3 gallons of 2:1 heavy syrup a colony. If you have been feeding continuously since July and they have stored some of it, you could be looking at less than that.
 #11923  by Alfred
 08 Sep 2021, 13:15
Also ,subject to location, if you have a lot of tree ivy around it may finally be in blossom about now so you could keep the feed levels low until its finished.
Its way better than any human made feed and in weather like this you'd be forgiven for thinking theres swarming given the sound the insects are making.
But make sure there's a water source for them if theyre still foraging.
As the others have said its getting near the end of the mite treatment window so get all over that if you havent already done so
Also make sure you're not going into winter with undrawn foundation/frames.
Many of us have learned the hard way so you dont have to........
 #11929  by MickBBKA
 08 Sep 2021, 22:18
I got a real shock with several colonies which are empty of stores after a very poor August and had to put gallon feeders on. Its amazing to see the bees draw a gallon of syrup down in about 18hrs. Out apiaries here just have nothing after July. Put pollen sub on some and they gobbled it down.
 #11933  by Steve 1972
 09 Sep 2021, 10:45
I am seeing the same Mick and started feeding on Saturday gone..one colony had nothing in the brood box..when I say nothing it had nothing at all no brood eggs or pollen..that colony took down 4L of syrup over night and the feeder was topped up the next day..all my nucs have been given pollen frames and are munching away on fondant..
 #11936  by SuesBees
 09 Sep 2021, 15:33
In reply to Adam, I have a Langstroth hive which still has 5 frames untouched. :(
3 frames have a lot of brood on them (I even saw a 'baby bee' emerging this afternoon!) and quite a lot of drawn foundation around it. The other 2 frames have drawn foundation on them.
I have been feeding 1:1 syrup up to now usually once a week. They have wolfed it down in no time. I have today given them 2:1 syrup and will check after a couple of days.
Alfred said not to go into winter with undrawn frames. What do I do if the remaining frames are still untouched by winter. It has been suggested I put in dummy frames around the cetral frames. Do you agree?
 #11938  by Alfred
 09 Sep 2021, 19:19
With feed or a natural supply of pollen/nectar around (a flow) they should get the comb ready to accommodate it and end up with all the frames full of either brood or food.
But varroa will still spoil the game even if this happens - you must treat.



If they havent drawn fully for some reason -are you seeing eggs/grubs as well as sealed brood? -then yes you probably need to to replace that redundancy with something thermally neutral so your bees are not going to waste energy and food keeping dead space warm.

But dont jump the gun just yet-give them a little more time.
I use a broodframe-sized plate of kingspan wrapped in foil tape attached to an old top bar to replace any frames that ought to come out.

If its not looking like they want to up their game then I would consider putting them into a polynuc and feeding them fondant over winter.
 #11947  by SuesBees
 12 Sep 2021, 09:04
Thanks for all the information from you all.
I think I know the way forward a lot better now.
 #11977  by Crazyhorse
 18 Sep 2021, 13:42
I’m lucky enough to have received 2 swarms in mid June. Now I need some advice about feeding please.
Hive 1.
A small colony on 14x12 deep brood. No supers and 6 frames of drawn comb. I’ve given a little bit of feed as they had to build from scratch but at the moment they are still bringing in stores and filling the frames. The colony has a fantastic temperament so gentle.
Should I start feeding these early with some invertabee and padi’s?

Hive 2.
This colony came on standard frames and are still on standard brood box. The queen is a prolific layer and filled the brood box quickly they have joined most frames together and filled the space. They have filled 7 frames of a super since August.
When I inspect the frames it always breaks exposing brood :( . This In turn makes them so angry :twisted:
Ideally I want to get these on 14x 12 but not until next year.
So over winter should I add the super back underneath the brood box or remove the super and just feed?

Thoughts and advice please.