# Winter feeding



## poppy1 (Feb 1, 2013)

Danky said:


> I bought a couple of spacers for winter feeding because sometimes my fondant patties come out too thick to fit beneath the inner cover. When should I install these spacers? Now before the hard cold comes or when I am ready to feed them in January? I live in Massachusetts where we are having an unseasonably warm November this year. Thanks for advice!


Can't say on the spacers but I just use a shallow super over mine instead of building extra equipment.
I then just lay my sugar bricks or fondant on the top bars and then I lay my corn sack full of leaves back in on top while leaving some of the sack hanging out, close them up and all done. Works great for me


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## erikebrown (Oct 27, 2014)

Danky,

I have the same question so was hoping to see an answer by now . On the one hand it would be good to have it in the hive so the bees can seal it up; on the other it has been warm and creates a new opening for robbing or other activity from external critters. My spacers also have a hole for ventilation, so not sure if I should have them on for this reason either. My understanding is to put the spacer under the inner cover, with any opening in back (to avoid creating a "chimney" at the front of the hive). It's a puzzle.

The weather calls for a warm week here in Virginia so I decided to wait until later in the year for now. It's been so warm that I worry wasps and other bees might still be active and invade the new opening, so am going to wait until after a longer cold stretch before adding these in.

Good luck with your bees!

Erik


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## xphoney (Nov 7, 2014)

If your worried about yellow jackets then install after the first hard freeze. It really depends on what is still flying in your area and what kind of hole the bees have to defend. You can put a small mesh over the openings witch would allow air to flow in but not insects.

Ours have been on for over a month now and the bees did get a chance to propolize them down before it got to cold.

Andrew
XPHoney


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## Danky (Nov 20, 2015)

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to put them on today, give the bees a chance to seal edges with propolis before the severe cold comes. 

Danky


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome!


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