# Feeds, both pollen and honey/syrup



## kustomizer (Feb 22, 2009)

I was about to ask almost the same questions, I am wondering if I will need to feed my package of bees pollen and if so where to get some that is not synthetic as the bees will, I imagine, find enough junk food on theit own.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Go with the sugar syrup and lots of it. Your package will need lots since they need to build wax. You can pick up organic sugar and spring water at places like whole foods. Or ask your local Catholic Church for a gallon or 5 of holy water. 

HBH is a EO mix. Essential Oil's. *Not just another chemical*. Do a search here on home made HBH. 

You can skip the pollen patty this year since you will get your package in April and there will be loads of natural pollen for them. You can offer a patty to them. Just saying they may not take it. 

Just remember to feed them, and always have feed for them unitl they stop taking it for a package.


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## daknoodle (Dec 8, 2005)

I'm looking at two different top feeders:

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/prodinfo.asp?number=688

or

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/prodinfo.asp?number=423

I'm going with 1 hive this year, so I don't mind the extra price. I'm also going with a long hive version of the langs with migratory covers, so no inner cover for pail feeders.

Anyone used either of these two or something similar from another supplier?


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

daknoodle said:


> http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/prodinfo.asp?number=423


That's the one use. But I got it at Dadant. 2 bucks more, but you will save that in shipping cost. 

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=761

They work really good. Only complaint is when they are full of syurp and you need to take it off to do an inspection. They are a little flimsy. Causing the the syurp to slosh.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

If you are going for the "natural" way, don't feed them anything. Bees collect nectar and produce wax for comb. If the queen doesn't have any comb, or enough comb, to lay in the bees will devote most of their nectar collection for the production of comb, until they have enough to store some honey, which they will determine themselves.

Let them bee.


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## daknoodle (Dec 8, 2005)

Derek said:


> They work really good. Only complaint is when they are full of syurp and you need to take it off to do an inspection. They are a little flimsy. Causing the the syurp to slosh.


Lucky me, I'm going to be using a long hive with top entrance, so I can just slide it down the hive so I can get access to where ever I need.


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## daknoodle (Dec 8, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> If you are going for the "natural" way, don't feed them anything....


I've been curious about this. But how well does it work with a band new package of bees?


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## julesbeek (Jun 1, 2007)

*top feeders and feeding a package...*

Catching two topics here - 

First off, the first Brushy Mtn feeder (688) - I got two of them a few years back, and the ONLY way they work well is if you fill them up *before* the bees have sucked up all the syrup. Which can be a day or two, depending on your climate (ours is pretty temperate - we're on the coast of California, and though it's winter, the cluster can still break most days). Otherwise, it's a nightmare, because the feeder will be chock full of bees in the empty troughs and you need to either brush them all out (after removing the little wooden "rafts") or pour the syrup in verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly in order to get the bees to move out of the way. I had to use one of these feeders on one of my hives just last week, and was too late to get to them before they got all the syrup sucked down. Quite the pain!
I've given up on the fancy top feeders and just use inverted nut jars from Costco with holes drilled in the lids, putting them on top of a few sticks on the top of the frames, with an empty deep, or a medium super depending on the size of the jars. I will also put an inner cover (with the hole for the bee escape) on and put the jar over that, if only using one. It's cheaper, and it works better than the top feeders. I have another version of a top feeder I got from Dadant, and way too many bees got under the mesh and drowned in the syrup.

As for installing a package, unless you're in full honey flow, you *must* feed them. The packages aren't like a swarm, which has gorged on honey and has some stores to start a new hive. They need some supplementation, at least as far as everything I've ever read. So "going natural" might sound like a great idea, until your package starves out or absconds. Of course, this is my experience out here. Others' may vary!

Best of luck,
Jules


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## HAB (May 17, 2008)

daknoodle said:


> Lucky me, I'm going to be using a long hive with top entrance, so I can just slide it down the hive so I can get access to where ever I need.


1. You will need to elevate the feeder, they enter it from the bottom.
2. You will need to add a cover or "floater" to keep them from getting into the syrup from the top and drowning.
3. A pail feeder like this is a lot easier to use. www.gabees.com/store/product_info.p...d=194&osCsid=0492fc7e992a3c041e7b5c88f0b41cf5


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

daknoodle said:


> I've been curious about this. But how well does it work with a band new package of bees?


Being as a brand new package of bees doesn't have any comb, and bees need comb to grow more bees and to store honey and pollen, they aught to act just like a swarm and build comb from whatever nectar they can produce from the environment, the local flowers.


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## daknoodle (Dec 8, 2005)

So then what is the benefit of feeding if they should be able to find everything they need in the environment?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

daknoodle said:


> So then what is the benefit of feeding if they should be able to find everything they need in the environment?


The benefit is that they can have what they need redily available right close to home and therefore can build comb faster. And once they are getting what they need from where they prefer getting it, the environment, they will stop taking the syrup from the feeder.

It's insurance man, insurance. But if they don't need it, they won't use it.


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