BBKA Forum

Another question from a new beekeeper. I have read that I shouldn't feed heavy syrup in winter so should I feed them patty or fondant, or something similar? I have only a small hive, new late this year, and they haven't filled all the brood frames. Should I restrict them with dummy boards?

Some misnterpretation somewhere methinks
You will struggle to feed syrup in winter because they wont take it down.
But you can feed syrup in autumn like the vast majority of us and theres still time to do it.
Get a rapid feeder on and keep filling it until they stop taking it.
This is far less hassle for everyone than having to dummy down ( use kingspan behind dummy boards if you go down that route).I

You shoukd also think about some insulation on top too
This will encouage them to go and get the food from the furthest frames instead of starving.
Thats assuming the varroa havent decimated the colony by then.
Happy days...

You could use fondant instead -it works for some folk -notably those that sell it.
I tried it last year on two hives ( too tightwad to buy extra feeders) and it didnt go well.
This year its back to normal with autumn syrup then supplement candipoline in spring.
Perspex crownboards are well worth obtaining .

Poly hives i own and my bees live in them..late September varroa treatment starts..shortly after depending on weight sugar syrup feeders are added.,,these will stop on the hives till the bees stop taking it down..some maybe heavy some may still be light in weight ..any light in weight get fondant added..candipolin is a waste of money not fondant..

SuesBees wrote: ↑

28 Sep 2021, 11:51

Another question from a new beekeeper. I have read that I shouldn't feed heavy syrup in winter so should I feed them patty or fondant, or something similar? I have only a small hive, new late this year, and they haven't filled all the brood frames. Should I restrict them with dummy boards?

You still have a little time for feeding thick syrup - say a couple of weeks. Depending on how full the hive is (both of bees and food) you may want to consider reducing the space which the bees have to heat - celotex/kingspan are good, with taped over edges where the foam is. Winter food consumption is reduced by a well-insulated hive, so celotex on the inside of each side of the box works well if you have room for that (pushed against the hive walls rather than hanging in free air). And a 2" slab on the crown-board or in the roof is excellent which is what I do for all hives, winter and summer. If you don't have anything for above the crown-board, even an empty super and scrunched up newspaper will work quite well - certainly better than nothing. (Although when you inspect the 'paper tends to get blown all over the place).
Depending on the weight of the hive, you may decide to put fondant on in, say, February as once brood-rearing starts in earnest, that's when they use honey to bring the brood-nest to 35C and if it's cold outside, that's a lot of energy needed and starvation in spring is possible. Any fondant on the hive needs to be insulated over it so heat from the bees is not lost. Once we get into mid-march when the bees are able to fly on cleanisng flights, then syrup can be used.

After the last few days I imagine a lot of folk would be wishing they had got more feed into their colonies while it was warm rather than worry about laying space. Its been freezing here. Frost was forecast last night although I don't know if we had any and its going to be evil for then next 4 or 5 days. Most of mine are fed and treated for varroa now. Just a couple to finish and the bees to bring back from the moors and get ready for winter. Then I can put my feet up

Plenty of time to feed yet Mick. It's warming up again next week after the forecast cold wet weekend.
My last few hives to feed will be fed today and feeders removed from the others. The ones I've looked at so far are good with plenty of stores and about 3 to 4 frames of brood surrounded by a lovely arc of stores. So plenty of winter bees being born as I write. Just hope the queens ramp it down soon or they will be turning their stores into more bees.

MickBBKA wrote: ↑

01 Oct 2021, 00:28

and the bees to bring back from the moors

Blimey, the heather was late flowering where you where Mick. Hope it was good.

Believe it or not I collected them on Wed night and there are still small patches in flower. Its been another strange year.

I think that part of the moors is in some sort of time dilation dimension.
All over long ago on the two moors I use.
Hope it was a good harvest for you.