Winter Feeding

by the Provident Woman | November 12th, 2009

While the fall has produced beautiful days of sun and days of rain, the bees haven’t been able to forage enough nectar to make enough honey for the winter.

So we create a feed supplement of two parts sugar and one part water. This is our second round of feeding in the past month.

We are putting on the final of 20 gallons of “sugar water” to help the hives fill the needed stores they are missing. My husband wants each hive to have a store of at least 60 lbs of food for the winter.

So where are all the bees at?

The weather has been getting colder and the because our nights are below 50 degrees the bees in the beehive cluster together. As it gets colder the cluster will get smaller as the bees get closer and closer together to create warmth. On the days that get above the mid 50’s they will venture out of the hive.

It’s still warm enough for some of the bees to venture around the hive…the tough ones.

Clint puts a hive top feeder on top of the hives needing more food stores, then pours the “sugar water” into the feeder, which is like a trough. The bees can climb up on the sides and gather the food supplement and convert it to food.

Now if I could just get him to help me feed the kids at lunch…

7 Responses to “Winter Feeding”

  1. 1
    Lisa says:
    November 12, 2009 at 8:47 am

    SUPER neat! I love learning about the bees. You’re an excellent teacher.

    Reply
  2. 2
    Debbie says:
    November 12, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    It is amazing what I didn’t know about bees but have learned from you! Thanks for the lesson.

    Reply
  3. 3
    Michelle says:
    November 12, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    a bee flew in my truck today and I thought of you as I slammed it into park, rolled all the windows down and flailed my arms like a mad woman. How do you do it?

    Reply
  4. 4
    Mandy says:
    November 12, 2009 at 4:22 pm

    Hi. I am trying to figure out how to order some honey for my dad for Christmas. Maybe it’s me, but I am having a hard time figuring out how to order…do you have an etsy shop? Am I missing something?

    Reply
  5. 5
    Marissa says:
    November 13, 2009 at 1:57 am

    super interesting

    Reply
  6. 6
    DebbieQ says:
    November 13, 2009 at 10:14 am

    I learn something new every day. I had no idea that you could feed bees with anything other than flower nectar.

    Reply
  7. 7
    DebbieQ says:
    November 13, 2009 at 10:14 am

    I think I meant to say pollen instead of nectar. I guess I haven’t learned enough today.

    Reply
    8. ;

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