BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • syrup or fondant for Autumn feeding

  • More advanced beekeeping discussion forum.
More advanced beekeeping discussion forum.
 #11837  by NigelP
 28 Aug 2021, 13:25
I think you will get a lot of different thoughts and answers as most have developed their own way of feeding and adding space.
I overwinter a lot of mine either as a brood box (floor insert in) or with a super underneath the brood box, unless they are really huge colonies then it's double brood. It's a matter of judgement and whats right for me may not be right for you.
One thought to consider.....I think now is a little soon to be winter feeding. If they fill all the space with thick syrup where is the queen going to lay her winter bees???
Late September/October is feeding time for my bees in North Yorkshire.
And yes many add undrawn foundation when feeding and get the comb drawn out, something I hope to try myself this season.
 #11843  by Alfred
 29 Aug 2021, 10:07
I have tried it once
Too many variables to be able to conclude but Im tempted not to do it again.
I fed a nuc last autumn with home made sugar cake
The hive became a wasp magnet- possibly because of the crumbs falling through the mesh.
By Early December I was steriising the poly for storage.
 #11844  by AdamD
 29 Aug 2021, 10:52
A lot of options here. For me all my supers are off and varroa treatment is underway - otherwise it's too late for the winter bees to be virus free as they are being produced now.

To explain the variabilities for me, some colonies remain on double brood; some that have swarmed or re-queened themselves in some way, were put in single brood boxes a while ago so the supers are cleared down to one empty or part-filled super and then the colony fed. The super will go under the brood box at the end of September in these cases without a queen excluder. Small colonies may stay in a single brood box. Nucs have expanded well over the past 6 weeks and have moved from 5 frame to 6 or 8 frame boxes for winter. (Last year they didn't expand so well). I have some 8 frame nationals which now have supers on them too. Steady feeding over August and September encourages them to grow to a reasonable size. Most of this is with drawn comb - colonies can be reluctant to draw foundation late in the year.

Partly due to either lack of feeders or the hassle of making up syrup, I have always tended to feed gently once the supers have come off until the hives are full-ish. Then see what the ivy does and top up if needed late September.

So there's no hard and fast prescriptive answer - as it depends on the size of the colony(ies) you have and where you are in the country too.