# How to do emergency feeding of TBH?



## chrissv (Oct 12, 2008)

Hi All,

This is my 2nd year as a beekeeper, and I have 3 Langstroth hives in my backyard. We are taught that going into winter, you want the bees in the bottom box with lots of honey over them, so that over the winter they can eat "up." If they get to the top, you need to do some kind of emergency feeding with bee candy or some such.

Now my question: how does this work with a TBH? I know the bars are all longitudinal; do the bees eat "across" during the winter? What is the configuration you are shooting for going into winter? How can you tell if the bees need emergency feeding, and how do you do it?

These are just questions that came up as I may be considering a TBH in my future.

Thanks,

Steven


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

Toward fall the honey should be relatively consolidated over the brood and then toward one side where it's all honey combs. They'll generally start in the brood chamber and move over eating as they go. I simply monitor how many full honey combs they have left and if they are getting low compared to the other hives and there's still ample time before the availability of forage, I'll usually transfer in a couple combs from a stronger hive. If it's warming up and you don't have other honey combs available, you could feed syrup.

Best,
Matt


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## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

I am curious myself. I have read about a ziplock bag feeder, and I would assume that would be the easiest. I am interested to see how others have done it.


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

If I'm going to feed syrup I usually use a couple quart mason jars with holes in their lids upturned over a couple small pieces of wood. I put these toward the back of the hive away from the open entrance(s). This allows the bees to feed, and makes it easy for me to replace them when they are empty with little disruption to the colony.

Best,
Matt


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## chrissv (Oct 12, 2008)

Cacklewack said:


> If I'm going to feed syrup I usually use a couple quart mason jars with holes in their lids upturned over a couple small pieces of wood. I put these toward the back of the hive away from the open entrance(s).


Does this work even in winter, when we with Langs are feeding with bee candy or sugar?


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

The same principles would apply to TBHs as they do to Langstroth hives. If it's too cold, you'll need to feed fondant, drivert, honey, etc. I.E. not syrup. However, if it's warming up enough that the bees can actually utilize the syrup, then you could feed this way.

Best,
Matt


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## chrissv (Oct 12, 2008)

Cacklewack said:


> If it's too cold, you'll need to feed fondant, drivert, honey, etc. I.E. not syrup.


That's what I thought; but I am confused at the mechanism of feeding fondant to a TBH. Do you lean the bee candy up against the comb? I don't think you put it on top of the top bars, since there isn't really any gap for the bees to get to the food.

Thanks for the comments! It's instructional.

-- Steven


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## Daddy'sBees (Jul 1, 2010)

chrissv
Put it on a saucer, or similar on the bottom of the hive. You may have to trim a little comb off the bottom of a couple of combs to make a little room. Better this than starving them.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The problem with answering the question is it depends on what you have. In a TTBH that will fit Langstroth frames you could put a commercially available frame feeder in, a top feeder on etc. but that would still require either warm weather or you warming the syrup once a day to hot enough you can just put your finger in it without getting burned.

Baggie feeders can work.

You can put sugar on the bottom and get it a little wet. You can put some newspaper between two bars up against the cluster and put slightly damp sugar there.

If you have made a frame feeder to fit, you could use that.

If your hive is built with a fairly waterproof bottom (and hopefully a drain at one end) you could plug the drain and spill syrup on the bottom.


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

I am Green so don't scream 
I have read 100's of hours of posts. I have yet to hear someone say! 
Take an empty frame NO foundation Make Candy or Fondant, Let it form 
directly to your empty Frame once hard/set Put frame in the hive
I would think you could even wire it, for additional strength.
Why has no supply house made something like this YET/
?
Makes me think I am way out of place,or on to something good

Tommyt


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Try a search on "candy frames".


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## IBRed (May 14, 2009)

How I do it.

Take a bar of empty wax, since the bees have eaten everything.
Lay it on a bench, pour dry sugar over the empty cells, and lightly mist with water. Sugar will stay after being dampened. 
Flip to the other side, and repeat.
Place frame full of sugar in hive as needed.

Since you are using a top bar, and not a frame, be very gentle, the cold wax is brittle. 

Regards, Riley N.


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