# Whats the coldest to feed bees 2:1 sugar water



## TonyGotaTruck (Jan 29, 2011)

Its going to be 30 at night and 62 for the next 2 days starting Wed or Thur. I made up 4 gallons of feed but now I am worried if it will be to cold...I,m in East Central Alabama almost to Auburn University and dont want to waste the feed if the wont take it.... 

Thoughts?


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

I had heard that the bees will only take syrup if the ambient air temperature is 50F or above, and the syrup temperature is also 50F or above. Of course the syrup probably shouldn't be above 100F either. I've had a few nights in the 40'sF and the bees here continue to take the syrup.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

up here in northeast alabama, my bees starting having trouble taking it, even from baggies, when the daytime highs were staying in the fifties. when it warmed back up to the upper fifties to mid sixties, they were foraging, and i had good luck yard feeding with quart jars over the quail feeder/waterer. they were only about three dollars each at the tractor supply store. we're supposed to get snow tonite, and i've decided to use candy/fondant if i have to feed anymore until spring.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

How do you plan to feed them? That could make a difference.


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

It has been in the 50's at my house, with night-time reaching into the 30's. My bees quit taking syrup, even when I put the feeder directly inside the hive. I have switched over to dry sugar or a sort of wet fondant.


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## Slow Modem (Oct 6, 2011)

TonyGotaTruck said:


> Its going to be 30 at night and 62 for the next 2 days starting Wed or Thur. I made up 4 gallons of feed but now I am worried if it will be to cold...I,m in East Central Alabama almost to Auburn University and dont want to waste the feed if the wont take it....
> 
> Thoughts?


freeze it


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

It's a question of the syrup temperature, not the outside temperature. If you heat the syrup every morning they will take it all day if the temperatures are 50 or above or until it cools down if the temperature is colder than 50.


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## TonyGotaTruck (Jan 29, 2011)

I am using a hive top feeder. Just open the top and pour in 2 gallons of sugar syrup. I am waiting till Thursday because the daytime temp will be above 60 degrees...


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Sometimes it's tough to get the bees to take syrup from a hive top feeder in cool weather. If the hive is not too far from your house then you may want to just add a couple quarts of warm syrup in the morning and see how they take it. If you pour in 2 gallons and it cools off at night it will take a while to warm up the following day.


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## TonyGotaTruck (Jan 29, 2011)

I will take your advice and not fill it up.. I will just add about 2 quarts to start with at a time once it warms because it will freeze each night.. Wierd weather we are having...


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I have been known to scoop out what I can get to easily, boil it and bring it back to warm up the remaining syrup...


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

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We are running at around the same temperatures. I purchased a few of the BM 1 gallon pail feeders.. I ran a pail of 2-1 seven days ago. Made up another pail this am, anticipating at today's inspection I would find an empty pail. Not the case, the pail was still full, it doesn't even look like they took one drop. I guess I will be making some peanut brittle tonight!


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## Sully1882 (Jul 18, 2011)

I'm in NW Arkansas and one of my hives that is a russian line were taking the honey till the weather got below 40 degrees and other hive, the Italians, were taking it in at below 30 degrees outside temps. Hive top feeders with the feeder over the hole in the inner cover. I'm gonna try the adding warm syrup trick in the next day or so. Also, FYI: Russians are a pretty well established hive with good stores, Italians are a feral save that I have only had for three week and have very little stores. 

Sully


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Tony,
If you are using a bucket feed system, having the syrup hot isn't a good idea. If I have this correct, hot or warm syrup put into a bucket and turned upside down will rain down out of the feedbucket when the whole thing gets cool. Somebody will correct me I'm sure.

Cool nights and warm days in the 60s is fine for feeding ambient temp syrup w/ most feeders. Being above the bees will keep the syrup a little warm. Warm enuf not to chill bees.


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## Dave E (Jan 8, 2011)

Someone mentioned to me to feed warm(daily) syrup in an old squeese ketchup bottle. Small ammount, and easily moved.

Thoughts?

Dave


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The problem with vacuum gravity type feeders is when the start cold and get warm the air in them expands. When they start hot and cool that isn't the problem. But I don't trust them much. I've seen too many leak and kill bees...


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

My mentor's mentor  recently sold me the frames from an 8-frame nuc for a whopping $8. Both of them figured this would be good for me to work with over the winter and get some experience before getting my larger colonies this spring...plus Fred didn't want to feed them all winter.  There were only maybe 3-4 full frames of bees along with some sealed and open brood, pollen, and some capped honey. 

I got them two weeks ago from today. I'm not much further south than you are Tony, I'm about 50 miles south of Montgomery. Since getting these bees they have taken close to 4 quarts of 5:3 syrup. This has been during the two fronts of low temperatures that has passed through the state. 

My setup is 1/8" hardware cloth over the topside of the oblong hole in the inner cover. I'm using quart jars with one-piece mayonnaise-type lids. I center the lids against the oblong hole and mark the area that fits in the opening. Using a small nail I pierce the lid only within this marked area...care should be taken not to extend the holes close to the edge of the lid so you don't compromise the seal. I make marks on the side of the lids with a black marker so I can tell how to align the strip of holes over the oblong hole. I simply turn the jar upside down while holding it over the grass, once the little bit leaks out and the vacuum forms I then place it over the screen being careful to align the strip of holes with the hole in the inner cover. I place another super over the inner cover and then the top cover.

Yesterday I put another quart on after letting an empty sit there was a couple of days. When I lifted the empty off the screen the screen was packed with bees waiting to be fed. Matter of fact, so far, anytime I look at the screen it's packed with bees trying to find food. There were empty comb on the outter positions of the hive and these are beginning to be filled, a couple of the next inward combs are getting pretty heavy.

I am going out in a little while and see how much syrup they've taken in the last 24 hours...last week I noticed that they had taken a pint in a roughly a 24-hour period, but I hadn't marked the time.

My setup places the syrup right above the cluster where they can readily get to it. With the jar sitting right above them it also probably receives a small amount of heat from them. I do normally warm the syrup just a bit before putting it on the hive (let it sit in hot water for a while). In reference to leaking syrup on the bees I haven't had an issue with that. I did wonder about it when I saw how much syrup the bees were taking so I placed a pie tin underneath the screened bottom board to catch whatever dripped down...I haven't seen a drop of syrup in it...but lots of interesting pieces of wax and short "hairs". So far, what I have done is not get over zealous in punching lots of holes or making them too large. I will fill the jar up with water and put the lid on, then I will turn it upside down. If, after the initial dripping that happens while the vacuum forms, the jar doesn't leak I will move it up and down rapidly...this should cause the water to come out in a nice spray but when the up and down motion is stopped the jar should hold it's vacuum and not let water out. If the jar/lid passes that test I feel that the syrup will work even better due to it's added thickness.

Anyhow, thought I'd share...it might help somebody or somebody might see something wrong that I'm doing and help me. :thumbsup:

Best wishes,
Ed

PS... It has really amazed me at the amount of syrup that they have taken!
PPS... Just for reference the frames are mediums.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

I just got back in from checking the syrup. They've taken a good 1/3 quart in 24 hours. They are also foraging some on a bush in the front yard....thermometer reads 53F with a low last night around 34F. The bush has been through several freezes but keeps cranking out some blooms.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

i'm a bit north of you and a little colder, and mine stopped taking syrup in the hive several weeks ago. do you have your top or any other part of your hive insulated?


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

squarepeg, I *think* you're talking to me, so... 

No insulation, just an eight frame medium for the brood chamber, inner cover, and then another medium box and top cover. Bees are in full sun from morning until fairly late in the afternoon. Below are a couple of shots from around 3:15 this afternoon. Temperature was 54-55 F. Earlier there was more activity than what I've seen over the last couple of weeks...lot's of close-in flying, hovering in front of the entrance a foot or two away, times on no activity and then suddenly 10-12 bees appearing and zooming inside the hive...I don't know if it was robbing, orienting, or just normal activity...it wasn't violent, though I saw a bee take a tumble every now and then on the porch. I'm thinking it was normal. ???

A few ladies that sneaked in through the top notch into the feeding chamber...









A flash shot showing the ladies clamoring below the screen jostling for their time at the feeder...


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

thanks ed, cool pix! yes i was wondering about your set up. we were a good ten degrees colder here than you today plus the wind chill. very few bees going out. is that a special sized jar to fit in the empty medium?


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Glad you liked the pictures, squarepeg. I've tinkered with taking pictures for years...an old Kodak accordian camera got me interested as a kid....still got it, too.  I picked up a low-end camera the other day figuring I would dedicate it to taking bee pictures. 

Do you live in the town of Jackson that is located below Grove Hill or is there another one?

My bee yard is going to be on the north side of a slope. It gets plenty of sunshine but also wind as we are actually at the top of the tallest hill in the immediate area. With the cold and high winds that we recently had thoughts of windchill bothered me, too. I'm using screened bottom boards so I took some roofing felt and wrapped the cement blocks with two pieces of it. After the weather got somewhat better I moved one piece so it left a nice open area for ventilation...I'll probably leave it like that until spring as I've got the prevailing wind sides protected.

The jars are standard mason jars that measure 6-15/16" tall with the lid screwed on. A medium super is 6-5/8" but when you add the rim of the inner cover to that you have sufficient clearance for the jar. 

If you can find one piece lids (rather than the standard canning, 2-piece lid/rim combos) they will rest more flush against the screen. Regular canning lids have an recess/indentation to them that could possibly raise the nail holes too high for the bees to reach. An old beek that I visited several months ago gave me a tip to turn the lids upside down inside the rims...this will put the gasket material against the rim rather than the jar but will make the lid surface press against the screen thus placing it closer to the bees. I didn't think to ask him if he had any leakage problems but he didn't mention that he did.

One thing I am concerned about is possibly creating a honey-bound situation. I may stop feeding after this quart (they had worked it down to 1/2 quart by the time I took those last pictures.

My apologies to the OP for sidetracking the thread. 
Ed


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Ooh, one more thing...the lid size for regular pint and quart canning jars is 70mm.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

ed, i live in jackson co., 1600 ft asl on sand mountain, which is in the northeast corner of the state. 

i have my hives facing southeast, so that the front gets sunshine most of the day. and they are fairly well protected in most directions from the wind.

i've read that it's better not to have all of the comb plugged out with honey/syrup, because the bees need some empty comb to cluster in.

have you tried weighing your hive? that would give you an idea about how 'full' it is. and you could weigh it in a few weeks to see how much they have used.

i was looking at the 'post your bloom dates' thread. looks like we'll be getting some blooms about mid-february, maybe early feb for you.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Oooh, nice country up there! We had a friend up there in Scottsboro...Joe Abercombie, ran AAA Tire...haven't heard from them in years. Your also not that too terribly far from Little River Canyon. Nice. 

Ditto on the SE direction. Yelp, I'm figuring on pulling back on the syrup. I'm hoping that one day next week when the temperature gets up in the 70's that I can make time to do a hive inspection, I should have a better idea of what's going on...if I can figure out what I'm looking at! I'm hoping to use my camera as a record of the inspections...go back and look and learn. I photographed the last inspection (last Saturday) but the camera was DOA. ;( 

I haven't tried weighing the hive...I'm not sure how I'd do that. I guess I could carry some bathroom scales down there and simply do the pick it up and hold it while you weigh routine. I'll...consider it.  

I'll be getting my colonies at the end of February so that should be good timing. I need to find someone who knows a close date when privet hedge blooms down here...that may very well be the bulk of my spring flow. It's amazing how once you get interested in honey bees you start paying attention to *any* blooms you see. 

Ed


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

your inspection should tell the story.

it's a little awkward, but i used a digital fish scales, weighed the front and back, and added them. since you just have the one box the bathroom scales would work fine.

i think privot blooms a little later in the season here, but you'll have lots of other stuff if you have any woods, creeks, or acreage of unused land around.

i know joe, he's still around and doing alright.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

You could insert an inside fitting division board feeder near the cluster and fill it with warmed syrup.
Heat rises and radiates outward so that warm bees can consume their syrup.
The warmed syrup is also a heat sink.
Good luck,


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

I did something yesterday I had said I would never do. I heated a 1/2 gallon in the microwave. I checked the temperature of the 2-1 and it was around seventy. The outside temp was still below fifty but the few fliers that were out found it quickly. The Collins feeders under cover were being ignored. We have made sugar blocks in the microwave and the bees love them. We form them in ice cub trays and put them on the top bars. I hope this helps. I hate to see anything starve.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

My goal for syrup would be about 100 F.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

squarepeg said:


> your inspection should tell the story.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> i know joe, he's still around and doing alright.


Well, I opted to put another quart on after the inspection. These ladies must be bottomless pits. The two outer frames on the east side of the hive were very light with the outermost one being basically completely empty. Frames in the center and to the west have a good bit of stores in them with some capped.

Glad to hear Joe's doing ok. I saw somewhere a while back where someone by his name was keeping bees up that way...is it him?

Ed


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## TonyGotaTruck (Jan 29, 2011)

Hey guys I need your advice. I had about 2 gallons (in jars) of honey that got cloudy and I wasnt sure what was wrong but, I loaded it up and took it to my bees today. I found it was granulating once I opened it. FIRST, I,m wondering why did it granulate so bad... I had to shovel some out of the jars... SECOND did I do ok by putting it in a hive top feeder and mixing in some sugar water..? Are the bees going to take it... ? It was 74 today in Alabama but, cooler (60 degrees) is headed this way... 

Thoughts?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Granulation won't hurt the syrup. You can always put it back in the pan, heat it gently (stirring constantly to keep it from burning) and dissolve the sugar again.


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