# What time of day should I feed



## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

If you're trying to avoid robbing, evening would be the best time to feed. I prefer to work on my hives in the cool of the morning, when the days are hot, the bees seem calmer then. Cooler days, doesn't matter so much. Syrup will help them build stores, but you have to be careful not to let them get honey (syrup) bound. They will be back-filling comb now as population decreases for winter, but can still get bound so tight that they might swarm. How much do your hives weigh?

A local beek will be able to tell you if there is a flow now.


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## SpratMan (Jun 1, 2016)

I really don't know how much they weigh. But, they don't look like they have a lot of stores. 2 of the 3 hives have about 4 frames pretty full and comb building on 2 or 3 of the remaining (10 frame Deeps). The larger hive has comb on all ten and I added another Deep with about 6 frames of comb on top of a queen excluder yesterday. I'm hoping they will use the syrup to build out more comb and stores. I added the Deep because I wanted to make sure the queen had room ton lay in the bottom Deep. Does that make sense?:scratch:


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

I'd ditch the queen excluders, equalize the comb between the two colonies, and feed 'em.


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## sarahsbees (Apr 20, 2016)

Hops Brewster said:


> If you're trying to avoid robbing, evening would be the best time to feed.


I thought bees wouldn't typically rob so long as you used the correct kind of feeder? (AKA not Boardman but something inside the hive.) So would robbing even be a factor to consider? (I ask because I'm about to go feed my hives and it's morning!)


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## SpratMan (Jun 1, 2016)

Actually, I'm using 2 community feeders. Mason jars with about 3 cups of sugar between them. I also but reducers on to avoid robbing. Seems to be working. They are gobbling it up and not much fighting. Here is are some Pics












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## SpratMan (Jun 1, 2016)

Can you explain? By equalize, do you mean the Brood and other used frames from the bottom Deep? Or, just the drawn comb?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

SpratMan said:


> Can you explain? By equalize, do you mean the Brood and other used frames from the bottom Deep? Or, just the drawn comb?


Drawn comb. I personally don't equalize brood, but I know some do. Kind of depends on your goals. If you've got a dink that needs brood now is the time to make the call to either give them brood or pull the queen and distribute the resources it does have into colonies that can put them to use.

I don't mean this to offend you or anything, but you're not going to add appreciable weight feeding colonies from quart jars outside the hive (unless there's a nectar flow going). Get it right above them in a hive top feeder or paint cans or something similar. If you want to put 30 pounds of weight on them... put three gallons of food above them and let them slurp it down.


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## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

JW Carlson has given you some good advice. Are you feeding them 2:1? If not you should be this time a year. The goldenrod flow should be just starting but not much so far because we need some rain to really get it going possibly this weekend.


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

i'm going to add to the good advise already given. Feed fast, not slow. Basically feed them gallons, not quarts. If they consume quarts, that's all they will do. If they have gallons, they will only "consume" a bit, and then store the excess. It's kind of like ice cream. If someone gives me a bowl, i'll eat it. If someone gives me a few gallons of ice cream, i'll make a bowl, and then put the rest in the freezer for later.


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## Cadence (Mar 31, 2014)

bobbybee said:


> It's kind of like ice cream. If someone gives me a bowl, i'll eat it. If someone gives me a few gallons of ice cream, i'll make a bowl, and then put the rest in the freezer for later.


Great analogy, but I would be inclined to eat as much ice cream as I could, not stopping at one bowl.


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## SpratMan (Jun 1, 2016)

Really great to get all this free advice. But, at this point, I'm feeding them Organic sugar. I don't think I can afford gallons right now. Hopefully, the little I'm doing will help not hurt. Thoughts?


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## bsharp (Feb 5, 2013)

SpratMan said:


> Really great to get all this free advice. But, at this point, I'm feeding them Organic sugar. I don't think I can afford gallons right now. Hopefully, the little I'm doing will help not hurt. Thoughts?


I hope you don't mean something like Sugar in the Raw! 

If it's not plain white, granulated sugar, it probably contains solids that the bees can't digest. It'll give them the runs (flys?). As far as granulated sugar goes, it's all the same. Don't waste your money on organic granulated sugar feeding bees.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

SpratMan said:


> Really great to get all this free advice. But, at this point, I'm feeding them Organic sugar. I don't think I can afford gallons right now. Hopefully, the little I'm doing will help not hurt. Thoughts?


"Organic" sugar is certainly not a good deal, you can find any number of threads on this subject so we won't go into it here... but it contains lots of solids which makes the bees have to go to the bathroom a lot. And if it's this time of year that's not a huge deal, but if they're eating it during winter without ability to fly... no bueno.

You want straight-up granulated white sugar like you'd use for baking a cake. No "sugar in the raw" or powdered sugar... just white, granulated sugar. 

A 25# bag is about $11-12 and it makes about 4 gallons of feed. Considering the cost of new packages, you can put 40 pounds of feed on each of your four colonies for less than half what one package would cost. Just food for thought.


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## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

Refined sugar is cheaper than organic. Feeding them organic sugar won't necessarily hurt them but you run the risk of giving them dysentery. Organic sugar will require the bees to take more cleansing flights. Refined sugar is better for the bees than organic.


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## SpratMan (Jun 1, 2016)

No. It's not Sugar in the Raw. It is "Zulka" brand "Morena Pure Cane Sugar" from Kroger. How can I tell if it has solids? Certainly don't want the bees to get sick!!! How can I tell if it has solids and/or if the bees get the runs?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

SpratMan said:


> No. It's not Sugar in the Raw. It is "Zulka" brand "Morena Pure Cane Sugar" from Kroger. How can I tell if it has solids? Certainly don't want the bees to get sick!!! How can I tell if it has solids and/or if the bees get the runs?


You want plain jane, refined, white, granulated sugar.


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## SpratMan (Jun 1, 2016)

Wow! Glad I asked this question!!!

THANKS!


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

just curious SpratMan, why are you using organic sugar?


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## SpratMan (Jun 1, 2016)

Because I'm a Hopeless Greenie! I do everything Organic I can! If I can't find Organic White Granulated, they may just have to fend for themselves


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

SpratMan said:


> Because I'm a Hopeless Greenie! I do everything Organic I can! If I can't find Organic White Granulated, they may just have to fend for themselves


Be prepared for organically starved bees this winter then.


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

I applaud your efforts, but your bees won't be organic. (if that's what you are shooting for) They forage so far out, you would have to have an area with a 3 mile radius from your hive in order for them to be considered "organic". I'm "all natural in my approach" and still feed regular sugar. I'd rather have healthy, non-organic bees with lots of stores for the winter then risk them starving in February. JMO


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

The issue with "organic" sugar is that many/most of them have a somewhat _brownish _color to them. That brownish color is from residual molasses (as a result of 'minimal' processing in organic sugars). The problem is that molasses has solids in it that bees cannot digest, and must be pooped out. But in winter, in many areas, there are periods of extended no-flying weather, when the bees cannot get out to poop. If that goes on long enough, it can lead to dysentery in the hive.


So the key is to look for _bright white_ color in any sugar you choose to feed to bees. Incidentally, if your concern is avoiding GMO sugar, at this time all _cane _sugar in the US is non-GMO sugar.


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