# To feed or not to feed?



## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

My first thought is that you have fed too much, but with only 15 combs and if there is no flow on, you may need to keep feeding. I am not familiar with your seasons so take that with a grain of salt. Les Crowder overwinters with 12 combs, do not remember what Mangum recommends, though you do have to make a comparison of comb width and height, not just the total number.
Do the current combs have any capped honey/syrup on them? What is stored for pollen?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

As is the trouble with TBHs... since they aren't standard size it's tough to judge what 15 combs is. It could be the volume of a 10-frame medium or it could be close to 20 deep combs depending on how big your TBH is.

What plan did you follow?


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

Are you open feeding? You may not even be feeding your bees. If you are feeding in hive, keep it up, if you are open feeding, give it up.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

With a top bar hive it's best to think in terms of the number of combs of bees in proportion to the number of combs of capped honey. That way it really doesn't matter what size they are, you are comparing apples with apples...


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

You really have to do inspections to know what is going on. As long as they have plenty of room for brood more nutrition is good. My opinion >>> Hives that are malnutritioned in mid summer are more likely to die next winter.


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## Jim Moore (Mar 30, 2015)

Thanks to all for the replies.
I have a 3-foot TBH. I downloaded the plans from the 3D Warehouse from within SketchUp. Here is the link: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=ce03c108ccaf3b35c852ef741091b872&ct=mdsa

They were designed by Mel and Barbara Bajec who indicate on their site that they heavily referenced The Practical Beekeeper, Beekeeping Naturally by Michael Bush and Top-Bar Hive Beekeeping: Wisdom & Pleasure Combined by Wyatt A. Mangum, PhD. Here is a link to their site: http://bbastrodesigns.com/bees/Top Bar Hive.html

I am not open feeding (assuming that mean the syrup is outside of the hive). The syrup is adjacent to the combs within the confines of the hive. I do not believe anything but my bees is feeding on it.

I inspect the hive every weekend. I have one comb that is all honey and is almost fully developed. There are another 9 or 10 that have a mixture of brood and honey. Then there are another 3 or 4 that are just being built out.

When I first started researching beekeeping in general and specifically TBH, I frequently can across the warning that often bees die from starvation. I also read numerous places that once they figured out their location and flowers were blooming, that the bees would probably not consume the syrup as much. This was to be the indication to cut back on the syrup and eventually eliminate feeding for the summer. 

It is no trouble to feed them at this point - I'm just wondering if feeding them makes them less likely to search for their own meals. They are zooming in and out of the hive like crazy so I assume they are foraging. 

Let me put it this way - is there a problem with continuing to keep syrup in the hive?


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Not as long as you avoid over feeding to the point that they backfill the brood nest. You will not make your bees lazy or anything like that. You also don't want the feed to remain in the feeder so long that it ferments - It won't hurt anything, but they won't eat it, and you might think that they just aren't hungry when they really are. As long as you keep up inspections you should know what they need.


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## Jim Moore (Mar 30, 2015)

By "backfill the brood nest" do you mean that they will just produce brood comb with limited or no capped honey?
Thanks


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## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

Jim Moore said:


> By "backfill the brood nest" do you mean that they will just produce brood comb with limited or no capped honey?
> Thanks


Jim, backfilling the brood nest is a reference to the condition where they store so much nectar/syrup that the queen has no place to lay. This condition can lead to swarming and limited cluster space for winter.


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

I'd like to see a sticky on feeding. 
The do's and dont's and a lot of explaining why and why not. 
Would also like it explained about 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, etc and the when's and when not's on that as well.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>The do's and dont's and a lot of explaining why and why not. 
>Would also like it explained about 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, etc and the when's and when not's on that as well.

All we have to do is get everyone to agree on the answers...


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

Michael Bush said:


> >The do's and dont's and a lot of explaining why and why not.
> >Would also like it explained about 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, etc and the when's and when not's on that as well.
> 
> All we have to do is get everyone to agree on the answers...


To make 1:1 use a 4# bag of sugar to 1/2 gallon of water. 2:1 uses a 4# bag of sugar to a quart of honey. 3:1 would use 3 4# bags of sugar to 1/2 gallon of water. I can't imagine ever using 3:1 syrup.

When to feed is kind of like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I feed if the honey supers are not on and the bees will take the syrup. I like to make them draw comb, because I am building up my apiary and I need lots of drawn comb.


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## Jim Moore (Mar 30, 2015)

I will admit that in spite of working with Nature most of my life (my day job is an agronomist with the USGA where I work primarily with environmental issues on golf courses), I have not had this much fun since first getting introduced to science in elementary school. These creatures are amazing. I will also say that I enjoy and appreciate the passion beekeepers have and are willing to share.

My guess is that those of you that have been doing this for a while are probably going to get worn out by newbies like myself. The change in ag exemption laws in Texas has a lot of folks like my wife and me rethinking how we manage our 10 acres. I just sold off my goats, primarily because water is so expensive here that even goats became a money-losing proposition. Here is some typical Texas Aggie math for you - I save about $1200/year in taxes with my ag exemption and have been spending about $1500 year on my goats. I keep the ag exemption mostly because it is so hard to get one in the first place. So, when Texas changed the laws to promote more bee raising, my wife and I committed to the concept of establishing 7 to 8 TBH's on our property. So far the grand experiment has been limited to one TBH that I built and 1 package of bees but we are greatly enjoying the learning process.
Thanks to all of you for your willingness to share you expertise.
Jim and Kay


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>To make 1:1 use a 4# bag of sugar to 1/2 gallon of water. 2:1 uses a 4# bag of sugar to a quart of honey. 3:1 would use 3 4# bags of sugar to 1/2 gallon of water.

Believe it or not you can't even get people to agree on the proper way to measure and proportion it, let alone when and for what purpose to feed it.


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