# Stop feeding?



## blk (Jun 15, 2017)

Living in zone 5 when should I stop feeding?


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## Thomas Frazier (Aug 25, 2015)

Curious to know this also. How and what are you feeding them now?

I modified the follower boards to accept a Boardman feeder inside the hive body. They are still taking 2:1 syrup. Conventional wisdom is, you feed them until they stop taking it.

Cheers,


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## blk (Jun 15, 2017)

I also heard "feed them until they stop taking it" so I guess I best keep feeding. They are still taking my 2 sugar to 1 water on a steady basis. The rainy no sun times are here in northern ny and they probably really need the food now.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

In fall, most of the advice I see (I am new) is weigh your hive and stop feeding when you hit your target wieght.
Cheers
gww


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

The answer will depend on what the hive looks like inside. The amount of capped stores needed for a winter depends on how large the cluster is and how severe the winters are. Once I get to the amount of capped stores that I think they need, I always add a sugar brick to the hive as "insurance". The sugar brick helps absorb some of the moisture in the hive. If your combs don't go all the way down to the floor of the hive, the sugar brick can just be set on the bottom of the hive. If there is no room, then it can be hung from a mesh bag in lieu of a comb. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1520991984593993.1073741866.687315994628267&type=1&l=baf264b308


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## Dwarvencheif (Aug 11, 2017)

My swarm is two weeks old today and building furiously. I have been feeding both pollen patties and 2:1 the whole time. Their comb is out to the 8th bar and nearly filling to the walls. 

I live in 10a is a rather mild to none excitant winter, it gets chilly for a few weeks and that’s about it. I rarely saw a day where my wifes bees were not out and about. 

Not sure if I’m doing it right or not but I figure if I had a swarm land in Oct I didn’t have much to loose by trying and see what happens.


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## trishbookworm (Jun 25, 2016)

I'm in NE OH.

Last year, I had 4 horizontal hives that each had about 5 bars of bees, and 6-8 bars of comb with some honey, some sugar syrup, and some empty space. They did not starve...honey left over by Dec, Jan, and March (when each colony died with queenlessness, imported mites sucking bees dry, and in-house mites sucking bees dry. But I'm a better beekeeper this year...).

So from that, I inferred that if you have capped honey/nectar bars that are slightly more in number than the bars crowded with bees, then they can be OK...the fact that nucs and 1 story deeps can survive in my climate helps support that idea. This goal makes a better translation from langstroth practices to top bar practices too - for as many bars in the brood nest covered by bees in the fall, need slightly more with full stores. 

This year, I have 8-12 bars covered with bees (for each of 6 hives now), and comb drawn but only half full. 4 weeks no rain makes for poor forage. I am feeding now, 2:1 sugar syrup with a raspberry teabag brewed in it for the smell, and will be doing so until 1) they stop accepting it, 2) it gets too cold, or 3) I can see stored sugar syrup in the combs nearest the feeders. They take 2 quart jars in 2 days. I use in-hive feeders because robber bees.

I think it is possible to over-feed. I only feed towards a particular goal - in this case, filling up their honey/"nectar" storage combs so they have carbs for winter survival/spring build up. If feeding is done when the queen needs room to lay, then she can actually get crowded out of the brood nest. That's especially if there is nowhere else to store the sugar syrup. Or if she has stopped laying or died.


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