Feeding

You would think something this simple would not be controversial, but it is. On several fronts. First, WHEN do you feed? "Q. When is the best time to feed the bees? "A. he best thing is never to feed them, but let them gather their own stores. !ut if the season is a failure, as it is some "ears in most places, then "ou must feed. he best time for that is #ust as soon as "ou know the" will need feeding for winter$ sa" in August or %eptember. October does ver" well, however, and even if "ou haven&t fed until 'ecember, better feed then than to let the bees starve." (().). *iller, A housand Answers to !eekeeping Questions, +,+.n m" opinion there are man" reasons to avoid feeding if "ou can. .t sets off robbing. .t attracts pests /ants, wasps, "ellow #ackets etc.0 .t clogs the brood nest and sets off swarming. .t drowns a lot of bees. %ome people feed a package constantl" for the first "ear. .n m" e1perience this usuall" results in them swarming when the" are not strong enough and often failing. %ome feed spring, fall and dearth regardless of stores. %ome don&t believe in feeding at all. %ome steal all the hone" in the fall and tr" to feed them back up enough to winter. 2ersonall" . don&t feed if there is a nectar flow. 3athering nectar is what bees do. he" should be encouraged to do it. . will feed in the spring if the" are light, as the" will not rear brood without sufficient stores to do it with. . will feed in the fall if the" are light, but . alwa"s tr" to make sure . don&t take too much hone" and leave them light. %ome "ears, though, the fall flow fails and the" are on the verge of starvation if . don&t feed. When 4ueen rearing, during a dearth, . sometimes have to feed to get them to make cells and to get the 4ueens to fl" out and mate. %o while . do tr" to avoid feeding, . end up doing it ver" often. .n m" opinion, there is nothing wrong with feeding if "ou have a good reason for doing it, but m" plan is to tr" to avoid it and leave the bees enough to live on.

2ollen is usuall" fed before the first available pollen in the spring. 5ere /3reenwood, 6ebraska0 that would be about mid 7ebruar". . have not had luck getting bees to take it an" other time.

Stimulative feeding.
*an" of the greats of beekeeping have decided this is not productive8 " he reader will b" now have drawn the conclusion that stimulative feeding, apart from getting the foundations drawn out in the brood chamber, pla"s no part in our scheme of bee(keeping. his is in fact so." ((!eekeeping at !uckfast Abbe", !rother Adam "9er" man", at the present time, seem to think that brood rearing can be made to forge ahead much faster b" feeding the bees a teacupful of thin sweet ever" da" than b" an" other method$ but from man" e1periments along this line during the past thirt" "ears . can onl" think this a mistaken idea, based on theor" rather than on a practical solution of the matter b" taking a certain number of colonies in the same apiar", feeding half of them while the other half are left "rich" in stores, as above, but without feeding and then comparing "notes" regarding each half, thus determining which is the better to go into the hone" harvest...results show that the "millions of hone" at our house" plan followed b" what is to come hereafter, will outstrip an" of the heretofore known stimulating plans b" far in the race for bees in time for the harvest." ((A Year&s work in an Out Apiar", 3.*. 'oolittle. "2robabl" the single most important step in management for achieving colon" strength, and one most neglected b" beekeepers, is to make sure the hives are heav" with stores in the fall, so that the" emerge from overwintering alread" strong earl" in the spring" (( he 5ow( o('o(.t book of !eekeeping, :ichard a"lor " he feeding of bees for stimulating brood(rearing in earl" spring is now looked upon b" man" as of doubtful value. ;speciall" is this true in the 6orthern %tates, where weeks of warm weather are often followed b" &7ree<e up.& he average beekeeper in the average localit" will find it more satisfactor" to feed liberall" in the fall(( enough, at least so that there shall be sufficient stores until harvest. .f the hives are well protected, and the bees well supplied with an abundance of sealed stores, natural brood rearing will proceed with sufficient rapidit", earl" in the spring without an" artificial stimulus. he onl" time that spring feeding is advisable is where there is a dearth of nectar after the earl" spring flow and before the coming of the main harvest." ((W.=. 5utchinson, Advanced !ee )ulture *" e1periences with stimulative feeding.

.&ve tried about ever" combination over the "ears and m" conclusion is that weather has ever"thing to do with the success or failure of an" stimulative feeding attempt. %o some "ears it seems to help some, some "ears it misleads them into rearing too much brood too earl" when a hard free<e could be disastrous or having too much moisture in the hive in that precarious time of late winter when a hard free<e could still happen. 2lus the reall" impressive results "ou get are usuall" from feeding a hive that is light in stores. >eaving more stores still seems to be a more reliable method of getting a lot of earl" brood in m" climate. 5ere in the 6orth it not onl" makes it difficult to even do, but makes the results var" from disastrous to remarkable. he problem is that beekeeping has enough variables and .&m not interested in introducing more. . will skip the what to feed issues and distill them down to m" e1perience as relates to stimulating brood production and ignore the issues of hone" vs sugar etc. which have alread" been talked to death. . have fed reall" thin /+8?0 thin /+8+0 moderate /@8?0 and thick /?8+0 s"rup at ever" time of the "ear e1cept a hone" flow, but again to simplif" the issue to stimulating brood rearing, let&s stick with the spring. . see no difference in brood stimulation between an" of the ratios. he bees will suck it down if it&s warm enough /and here it seldom is0 and it will induce them sometimes to start brood rearing when the bee&s common sense is that it is too earl". %o for simplif"ing even further, let&s #ust talk about feeding or not feeding s"rup. 'ifficult" getting bees to take s"rup earl" in 6orthern climates8 .f "ou tr" to feed an" kind of s"rup to bees in m" climate in the late winter or earl" spring, the results A%AA>>Y are that the" will not take it. he reason is that the s"rup is hardl" ever above BC 7. At night it is somewhere between free<ing and sub <ero. .n the da"times it&s usuall" not above free<ing on those rare occasions when it&s actuall" BC 7 in the da"time, the s"rup is still below @? 7 from the night before. %o first of all, tr"ing to feed s"rup in the late winter and ;arl" spring usuall" doesn&t work at all, meaning the" won&t even take it. 'own sides to success8 hen, if "ou get luck" and get some warm spell somewhere in there that sta"s warm enough long enough for the s"rup to get warm enough that the

bees will take it, "ou manage to get them rearing a huge amount of brood, lets& sa" near the end of 7ebruar" or earl" *arch, and then "ou get a sudden sub <ero free<e that lasts for a week and all of the hives that were so induced to raise brood, die tr"ing to maintain that brood. he" die because the" won&t leave it and the" die because the" can&t keep it warm, but the" tr" an"wa". We could get a hard free<e /+C or below 70 an"where up to the end of April, and last "ear we did get one in mid April as did most of the countr". Our record low, here in the warmest part of 6ebraska in 7ebruar" is (?B 7. .n *arch it&s (+, 7. .n April it&s @ 7. .n *a" it&s ?B7. 5aving free<ing weather in *a" is normal here. .&ve seen snow storms on *a" +st. %o . seriousl" doubt, not onl" the efficac" of feeding s"rup, but if "ou can get it to work, the wisdom of stimulating brood rearing ahead of what is normal for the bees an"wa". 9ariable outcomes8 his might be an entirel" different outcome in one "ear than another "ear. )ertainl" if "our gamble pa"s off and "ou get the bees to brood up in *arch and "ou manage to keep them from swarming in April or *a" /doubtful0, don&t get an" hard free<es that kill some of the hives off, or the" are built up so far b" the time those free<es hit that the" can manage, and "ou manage to keep that ma1 population for the flow in mid Dune, ma"be "ou&ll get a bumper crop. On the other hand, "ou get them to brood up heav" in *arch, get a sub<ero free<e that lasts a week and most of them die, it&s a ver" different outcome. .n a different climate, this might be an entirel" different undertaking. .f "ou live where sub<ero is unheard of, and clusters don&t get stuck on brood from cold and can&t get to stores, then the results of stimulative feeding ma" be much more predictable and much more positive. 'r" %ugar8 .n m" e1perience it made a lot of difference. *ost of the hives ate the sugar. %ome ate most of the sugar. he" did brood up while eating sugar and the" could eat it even when it was cold. he" don&t go as cra<" over it nor as cra<" on brood rearing, but . see that as a good thing. A moderate build up from stores the" can get at even in the cold is a much better survival bet than a huge build up at a time the" could get caught in long hard free<e on s"rup that the" won&t be able to get to if it&s cold. "pe of feeder8

. will admit, that the t"pe of feeder also pla"s into all of this. A top feeder in the earl" spring here is worthless. he s"rup is hardl" ever warm enough for the bees to take it. !aggie feeders, on the other hand on top of the cluster, the" seem to be able to get at, as well as dr" sugar. A frame feeder /as much as . don&t like them0 against the cluster is taken much better than the top feeder. /but not as well as the !aggie feeders0. .n m" climate an" feeder that is ver" far from the cluster will not get used until the weather is consistentl" in the BC&s and b" then the fruit trees and dandelions will be blooming so it will be irrelevant. You might get some s"rup down them in late *arch or earl" April with a !aggie feeder or a #ar or pail directl" over the cluster when ever"thing else fails. Second, WHAT do you feed? . prefer to >;A9; them hone". %ome think "ou should onl" feed hone". 7rom a perfectionist view, . like that. 7rom a practical view, it&s difficult for me. 7irst, hone" sets off robbing a lot worse than s"rup. %econd, hone" spoils a lot more easil" if . water it down, and . hate to see hone" go to waste. hird, hone" is ver" e1pensive /if "ou bu" it or #ust don&t sell it0 and labor intensive to e1tract it. .t seems wrong to me to go to the trouble of e1tracting it, onl" to feed it back. .&d rather leave enough hone" on the hives and, in a pinch, steal some from a stronger hive for the weaker hives, rather than feeding. !ut if it comes down to needing to feed, . feed off, old, or cr"stalli<ed hone" if . have it, otherwise . feed sugar s"rup. Pollen he other issue of what, of course, is pollen and substitute. he bees are healthier on real pollen, but substitute is cheap. . tr" to feed all real pollen, but some times . can&t afford that and . settle for BC8BC pollen8substitute. On #ust substitute "ou get ver" short(lived bees. Third, How MUCH do you feed? .t&s best to check with local beekeepers on how much stores it takes to get through "our winters. 5ere, with .talians, .&d shoot for a hive weight of +CC to +BC pounds. With )arniolans, it&s more like -B to +CC pounds. With the more frugal feral survivors it might be more like BC to -B pounds. .t&s alwa"s better to have too much than too little. Fourth, HOW do you feed?

here are more schemes to feed bees than there are options in an" other aspect of beekeeping. . have a loveEhate relationship with feeding to start with so it&s not surprising . have a loveEhate relationship with most methods. ssues when considerin! the ty"e of feeder# How $uch l%&or is in'ol'ed in feedin!? 7or instance do . have to suit up? Open the hive? :emove lids? !o1es? 5ow much s"rup will it hold? 5ow man" trips will . have to make to an out"ard to get them read" for winter? .n other words, a feeder that holds five gallons of s"rup, .&ll onl" have to fill once. .f it onl" holds a pint or a 4uart .&ll have to fill it man" times. Will the &ees t%(e it if it)s cold? .f the weather is warm most an" feeder works. Onl" a few will work when the weather is marginal. *eaning it&s in the FC&s or so at night and the BC&s or so in the da" and none work when it sta"s too cold all the time. Wh%t does it cost? %ome methods are 4uite e1pensive /a good hive top feeder could cost G?C per hive0 and some are 4uite cheap /converting a solid bottom board to a feeder might cost GC.?B per hive0. *oes it c%use ro&&in!? !oardman feeders, for e1ample are notorious for this. *oes it c%use drownin!? )an this be mitigated? 7rame feeders are notorious for this and most beekeepers have added a float or ladder or both to minimi<e it. s it h%rd to !et into the hi'e with the feeder on or does it get in the wa"? 7or instance a top feeder has to be removed to get into the hive and it sloshes and spills a lot. s it h%rd to cle%n out the feeder? 7eed will spoil. 7eeders will get mold in them. .f bees can drown in them, the" will have to be cleaned out from time to time. +%sic ty"es of feeders

Fr%$e feeder, hese var" a lot. he reall" old ones were wood. he old ones were smooth plastic and drowned a lot of bees. he newer ones are mostl" a black plastic trough with some roughness on the sides to act as a ladder. .f "ou put a float in them the" work much better with less drowning or a HI hardware cloth ladder helps. he" also take up more than one frame, more like a frame and a half so the" don&t fit well and the" bulge in the middle. !rush" *t. makes one out of *asonite with more limited access, a built in HI ladder and it onl" takes up one space and it doesn&t bulge. !etterbee has a plastic version with similar features. . haven&t had one, but the complaints .&ve heard are that the ears are too short and it falls off the frame rest. .f "ou make them correctl" then the" would live up to their other name "division board feeder". !ut to do that the" have to divide the hive into two parts and should have separate access for each side of the hive. %ome people make actual "division board feeders" themselves and use them to make a ten frame hive into two four frame nucs with a shared feeder. +o%rd$%n feeder, hese come in all the beginners& kits. he" go in the entrance and hold an inverted 4uart mason #ar. .&d keep the #ar lid and throw awa" the feeder. he" are notorious for causing robbing. he" are eas" to check but "ou have to shake off the bees and open the #ar to refill them.

n'erted cont%iner, hese work on the same principle as a water cooler or other upside down containers where the li4uid is held in b" a vacuum /or for the technicall" minded among us, held in b" the air pressure pushing on it0. 7or feeding bees, this can be a 4uart #ar /like the one from the !oardman feeder0, a paint can with holes, a plastic pail with a lid, a one liter bottle etc. .t #ust has to have some wa" to hold it over the bees and some small holes for the s"rup to get out. Advantages var" b" how "ou set it up and how big the" are. .f the" hold a gallon or more "ou won&t have to refill ver" often. .f the" are onl" a 4uart "ou will have to refill a lot. .f the" leak or the temperature changes a lot, the" leak and drown or "free<e" the bees. he" are usuall" cheap and usuall" drown less bees than the frame feeder, unless the" leak. .f the hole it goes over is covered in HI hardware cloth "ou won&t have an" bees on the container when "ou need to refill.

Miller feeder, 6amed after ).). *iller. here are variations of this. All go on top of the hive and re4uire tight closure so robbers don&t get in the top and drown in the s"rup. %ome of them have open access b" the bees to the entire feeder. %ome have limited access that is screened in so the bees have #ust enough room to get to the s"rup. he" come with the access in various places. %ometimes one end, sometimes both, sometimes the center parallel to the frames and sometimes across the frames. he reasoning is either based on being easier to make and fill with onl" one compartment /ends0 or better access for the bees /center0 or even better access for the bees /across the frames0 so the bees will find it. he taller the" are the less the" get used when it&s cold but the more s"rup the" hold. %ome hold as much as five gallons /great for an out"ard during warm weather but not good when it&s cold at night0. %ome hold as little as a couple of 4uarts. 7or cool weather the bees will work one that is shallow and has the entrance in the center better than one that is deep and has the entrance on the end. he :apid feeder is a similar concept but is round and goes over the inner cover hole. he biggest disadvantage is probabl" having to remove it to get into the hive. 2rett" awkward if it&s full. he biggest advantages are the volume of s"rup the" hold and /if it&s screened0 filling without having to suit up or disrupt the bees. +otto$ &o%rd feeder,

-%y S$ith +otto$ +o%rd Feeder his is picture of the bottom board feeder that Da" %mith came up with. .t&s simpl" a dam made with a @EF" b" @EF" block of wood put an inch or so back from the where the front of the hive would be /+I" or so forward of the ver" back0. he bo1 is slid forward enough to make a gap at the back. he s"rup is poured in the back. A small board can be used to block the opening in the back. he bees can still get out the front b" simpl" coming down forward of the dam. he picture is from the perspective of standing behind the hive looking toward the front. his is all empt" so "ou can see where the dam is etc. he edges of the dam have been enhanced and labels put on to tr" to make more sense. his version doesn&t work on a weak hive as the s"rup is too close to the entrance. .t drowns as man" bees as the frame feeders.

My 'ersion of the -%y S$ith +otto$ +o%rd Feeder . #ust modified this to make a top entrance and a bottom feeder. hese were made from a standard bottom board from *iller !ee %uppl". he space on top is @EF" and the space on the bottom is +E?". his is a nice space for overwintering as . can put some newspaper on and cover with sugar, or . can fit a pollen patt" in without s4uishing bees. . was concerned about water from condensation so . added a drain plug. his could also be used to drain bad s"rup. Also this design allows stacking up nucs and feeding all of them without opening or rearranging. %o far . have had about the same number of drownings as a standard frame

feeder. You do have to pour the s"rup in slowl" and if the bees are obviousl" so thick that the" are all over the bottom "ou might want to add a bo1 and lessen the congestion. . am considering making a float out of +EF" luan. 7rom left to right8 !ottom of the feeder. entrance for the hive below it. he block part wa" across makes a reduced

op of the feeder. he dam at the front stops the s"rup from running out. he support block holds the HI hardware cloth up so it doesn&t sag. he HI lets me fill the feeder without bees fl"ing out. he drain plug is so . can let condensation out in the winter or rain water if it gets in. .t&s been dipped in wa1 and the cracks filled with a wa1 tube fastener. You could #ust melt some beeswa1 and roll it around in the feeder to seal it. With a bo1 on it so "ou can see where "ou fill it. .f "ou aren&t stacking them the feeder portion could be on the front or back. When doing "apartment st"le" the filler is in the front. Apartment st"le where "ou can see the entrance for the nuc below on the bottom. Apartment st"le with covers over the filler to keep out most of the rain. hese are scraps of +E?" pl"wood, but an"thing works fine. %o far the" haven&t blown off. +%!!ie Feeder, hese are #ust gallon <ip lock baggies that are filled with three 4uarts of s"rup, laid on the top bars and slit on top with a ra<or blade with two or three small slits. he bees suck down the s"rup until the bag is empt". A bo1 of some kind is re4uired to make room. An upside down miller feeder or a one b" three shim or #ust an" empt" super will work. Advantages are the cost /#ust the cost of the bags0 and the bees will work it in cooler weather as the cluster keeps it warm. 'isadvantages are "ou have to disrupt the bees to put new bags on and the old bags are ruined. O"en feeder, hese are #ust large containers with floats /"popcorn peanuts", straw etc.0 full of s"rup. he" are usuall" kept awa" from the hives a wa"s /+CC "ards or more0. Advantages are "ou can feed 4uickl" as "ou don&t have to go to ever" hive. 'isadvantages are that "ou are feeding the neighbor&s bees and the" sometimes set off robbing and sometimes in a feeding fren<" a lot of bees drown.

C%ndy &o%rd, his is a one b" three bo1 with a lid that has cand" poured into it. .t goes on top in the winter and the bees will use it if the" get to the top of the hive and need food. he" are ver" popular around here and seem to work well. Fond%nt, his can be put on the top bars. Again it seems to be more useful for emergenc" feed. he bees will eat it if there is nothing to eat. he end effect is similar to the cand" board.

*ry Su!%r, his can be fed a number of wa"s. %ome people #ust dump it down the back of the hive /definitel" not recommended with %creened !ottom !oards as it will fall through to the ground0. %ome put it on top of the inner cover. %ome put a sheet of newspaper on top of the top bars, add a bo1 on top and put the sugar on the newspaper /as in the photos above0. Others put it in a frame feeder /the black plastic trough kind0. .&ve even pulled two frames out of an eight frame bo1 that were empt" and dumped the sugar in the gap /with a solid bottom board of course0. With screened bottom boards or with a small hive that #ust needs a little help, .&ll pull some empt" frames out, put some newspaper in the gap and put a little sugar, spra" a little water to clump it so it doesn&t run out, a little more sugar until . get it full. %ometimes the house bees carr" it out for trash if "ou don&t clump it. .f "ou dri<<le some water on it "ou can get the bees interested in it. he finer the sugar the better the" take it. .f "ou can get "bakers" sugar or "drivert" sugar it will be better accepted that standard sugar but harder to find and more e1pensive. Wh%t (ind of su!%r? .t matters not at all if it&s beet sugar or cane sugar. .t matters a lot if it&s granulated white sugar or an"thing else. 2owdered sugar, brown sugar, molasses and an" other unrefined sugar is not good for bees. he" can&t handle the solids.

2ollen is fed either in open feeders for the bees to gather it /dr"0 or in patties /mi1ed with s"rup or hone" into a dough and pressed between sheets of wa1ed paper0. he patties are put on the top bars. A shim is helpful to make room for the patt". . usuall" do open feeding dr". Me%surin! r%tios for syru", he standard mi1tures are +8+ in the spring and ?8+ in the fall /sugar8water0. 2eople often use something other than those for their own reasons. %ome people use ?8+ in the spring because it&s easier to haul around and keeps better. %ome people use +8+ in the fall because the" believe it stimulates brood rearing and the" want to be sure to have "oung bees going into winter. he bees will manage either wa". . use more like B8@ /sugar8water0 all the time. .t keeps better than +8+ and is easier to dissolve than ?8+. he ne1t argument is over weight or volume. .f "ou have a good scale "ou can find this out for "ourself, but take a pint container, tare it /weigh it empt"0 and fill it with water. he water will weigh ver" close to a pound. 6ow take a dr" pint container, tare it /weigh it empt"0 and fill it with white sugar and weight it. .t will weigh ver" close to a pound. %o .&ll keep this ver" simple. 7or the sake of mi1ing s"rup for feeding bees, it #ust doesn&t matter. You can mi1 and match. "A pints a pound the world around" as far as dr" white sugar and water are concerned. At least until "ou&ve mi1ed the s"rup. %o if "ou take +C pints of water, boil it, and add +C pounds of sugar "ou&ll get the same thing as if "ou took +C pounds of water, boil it, and add +C pints of sugar. he ne1t confusion seems to be on how much it takes to make how much s"rup. he volume of +C pints of water and +C pints of sugar will make about +B pints of s"rup, not ?C. he sugar and the water fit together. 'on&t confuse the issue of how "ou measure. *easure before "ou mi1. .n other words, "ou can&t fill a container +E@ of the wa" with water, and add sugar until it&s ?E@ full and have +8+ s"rup. You&ll get more like ?8+ s"rup. >ikewise, "ou can&t fill it +E@ of the wa" with sugar and then add water until it&s ?E@ full and have +8+ s"rup. You&ll get more like +8?. You have to measure both separatel" and then put them together to get an accurate measurement. . find the easiest is to use pints for water and pounds for sugar since the sugar comes in packages marked in pounds and volume is eas" to measure for water. %o if "ou know "ou are going to add +C pounds of sugar and "ou want +8+ then start with +C pints of boiling water and add the +C pounds of sugar. How to $%(e syru",

. boil the water and add the sugar and then when it&s all dissolved turn off the heat. With ?8+ this can take some time. ;ither wa", boiling the water makes the s"rup keep longer b" killing all the microorganisms that might be in the sugar or the water. Moldy syru" . don&t let a little mold bother me, but if it smells too funn" or it&s too mold" . throw it out. .f "ou use essential oils /and . don&t0 the" tend to keep it from molding. %ome people add various things to control this. )loro1, distilled vinegar, vitamin ), lemon #uice and other things are used b" various people to help it keep longer. All of these e1cept the )loro1 make the s"rup more acidic and closer to the acidit" of hone" /lower the p50.