# New Bee K./Top Bar in Seattle



## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome 206!


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## samoadc (Dec 15, 2012)

I don't think you need to feed them at all as long as it doesn't rain. I have read that after a rain it takes about three days for the nectar to start being available. Check out the amount of stores next fall when dreary weather occurs day after day.Don't watch them so often that it hampers their work. How the temperature change or bee odors affect them is probably a lot of theory but who knows. Using a little smoke is something to remember and try to set up two hives so if you ever loose a queen you can easily help them make another.Too remember slow and easy movements are much better than fast and bumping the hive.


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## Bthelight206 (Jul 10, 2013)

Thanks so much. This is very helpful.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Welcome to Beesource!

You may find this page on _feeding _from Michael Bush useful:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm

The bees likely will store honey (once you quit feeding), but you should not _expect _to harvest honey this year. If they don't need it all to get through the winter, you can always reevaluate and harvest in the spring.


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## Bthelight206 (Jul 10, 2013)

Thanks so much. I stopped feeding. Is it safe to assume that they aren't dependent on the food I have been giving them? That was one of my fears. 

Thanks for you feedback and the link!


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

If blackberries are blooming, they should be visiting the blooms and feeding themselves. As this is a new hive, monitor the number of combs they fill, and re-evaluate the feeding situation closer to fall.


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## Lazer128 (Dec 15, 2012)

Welcome to the site! :thumbsup:


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## Bthelight206 (Jul 10, 2013)

My bees seem to be multiplying quickly, but I am not seeing any honey stores yet. I stopped feeding about 3 weeks ago. I am watching them from a viewing window. Do I need to look more in depth or should I be able to see everything I need from this vantage?

Thanks


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## samoadc (Dec 15, 2012)

I think the window must be very nice. You can learn a great deal just by listening and looking. If there are many bees going in and out and when you occasionally see the queen is laying and they seem to have plenty of brood with stores around the brood I don't think you have anything to worry about.


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## samoadc (Dec 15, 2012)

I am sure once the black berries are blooming it is best to not feed further. It can be cloudy for a month in your area and as one rain may cause the flowers to not produce much nectar for three days I've read so maybe to have a good wintering it would be best to not take any honey the first year and be careful each year after that as it just rains too much in Seattle though I lived there and had no problems raising my bees there. I am the type though that vever did take much of their honey. I doubt if I ever did have a hive that I took 60 lbs. from in any one year. Now I am in Las Vegas and have learned to not mess with the frames very much if at all when it is over 100 degrees every day for most of the time all summer long. The heat makes the wax so soft that the weight of the honey causes them to just break in two and that is not the thing to let happen.


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## Bthelight206 (Jul 10, 2013)

Hey guys. My bees still haven't produced any honey, but have tripled in size. I have 8 combs and have been feeding them syrup of sugar water. I have winterized the outside of my hive. Any suggestions on how best to feed through the winter? Anything else necessary?

Thanks for you any help you can give.


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## BGhoney (Sep 26, 2007)

Its hard to feed a top bar hive, you need sugar above the cluster.


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