Honey rather than sugar

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
193
Reaction score
0
Location
North Nottinghamshire
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
5
Due to an ongoing illness which will make it difficult if not impossible to remove and extract the supers, I'm toying with the idea of leaving them on over winter instead of feeding them the usual sugar syrup throughout September.

In theory how many fully capped supers would I need to leave on a National to ensure that they don't starve and how do you think they should be placed, i.e. under or over the brood box.

I'm a psychotherapist not a mathematician so not great with working out kg just tell me straight. I'm more interested in how the bees will feel about it.
 
Due to an ongoing illness which will make it difficult if not impossible to remove and extract the supers, I'm toying with the idea of leaving them on over winter instead of feeding them the usual sugar syrup throughout September.

In theory how many fully capped supers would I need to leave on a National to ensure that they don't starve and how do you think they should be placed, i.e. under or over the brood box.

I'm a psychotherapist not a mathematician so not great with working out kg just tell me straight. I'm more interested in how the bees will feel about it.

It will be much better for them to overwinter with honey to feed them rather than sugar syrup ... how much you leave on is rather dependent upon how big a colony is going in to winter, how greedy they are in terms of feeding and what the weather is going to be like - colder it is the more energy they will need to heat the cluster.

So .. why not start off with one super over the brood (without a queen excluder) and store the spare filled supers close by in case they need more when you heft the hive after christmas. If you insulate well above the super that will keep them nice and warm with the extra space the super provides.
 
In theory how many fully capped supers would I need to leave on a National .


ZERO

When you winter your bees, you MUST restrict the wintering room according the cluster size. Othrewise bees nust heat themselves all the time because heat escapes to open air.

Sugar is as goo winter food as honey. Bees do not nees honey.
My bees live with sugar 9 months a year. Pollen is what they need.

Take off the supers, extrcat them if they are still liquid honey. But the hive is not a place where top store "several supers" or even one.


MUST? Ok, if you do not, they are your bees. But why you must try to kill them?
 
It will be much better for them to overwinter with honey to feed them rather than sugar syrup .

That is not true at all. Sugar is good enough. And you do not have even real winter in UK

You feed honey to bees in winter and sugar on summer in UK

I feed sugar for winter, and summer food they must get from nature.
If they do not get food, I MUST move the place of yard.

.
 
Last edited:
That is not true at all. Sugar is good enough. And you do not have even real winter in UK

You feed honey to bees in winter and sugar on summer in UK

I feed sugar for winter, and summer food they must get from nature.
If they do not get food, I MUST move the place of yard.

.

So ... if you put a feeder of honey alongside a feeder with sugar syrup in your hive - which one will the bees choose first ? AND ... which is their natural food ?

Answers on a postcard to Finman please ... not looking for another rant thread.
 
Oh finman! Read the post, they can't take the honey off! They are not well!
It is fine to leave the honey on the hive. The best way to do it is to get the help of someone else just for a day, go round your hives and put the fullest super from each hive underneath the brood chamber, they will take the honey into the brood box, that is where they will overwinter and the gap at the bottom where the super is is no worse than an mesh floor.
If you are feeling better in spring, which I hope you are, just remove the supers.
In theory they need no supers if the bb is full of honey but it does no harm to leave it on the hive either as above or on top. The danger is leaving empty supers on top where the heat will go, whatever happens don't forget to remove the QE for winter.
Best wishes for a full recovery
E
 
On the basis that the bees put it there, and have been doing so for ???????years.

leave it where it is.

They dont really start eating it until well after Christmas.
 
Do you mean super frames or super boxes?
 
I always leave my bees a super of honey now - I swop the boxes round so super on the bottom, then the brood box (s)...they seem to do fine on it. One year I listened to advice and took all supers off and fed heavily and had most losses ever.

So I stick with what my bees like. I swop the boxes so that in spring HM will move to warmest part of hive -BB- to lay...leaving the super empty ready to be taken off on first inspection.
 
Not sure if I am mistaken or not but from what Finman seems to be saying I think he takes all the supers off, therefore leaving only brood box or boxes and then feeds them sugar for 9 months which they can only store in the brood frames.
 
And you do not have even real winter in UK
and that is exactly why beekeeping methods in such places as Finland must differ from those in the UK.
 
So ... if you put a feeder of honey alongside a feeder with sugar syrup in your hive - which one will the bees choose first ? AND ... which is their natural food ?

Answers on a postcard to Finman please ... not looking for another rant thread.


blaa blaa blaa. Now it is not a question what bees do. Beekeeping is such that a beekeepr takes honey and gives sugar instead.

Don't try to be too wise.

They are youtr hives and yourt hive. Just do as you like.

when hive has 20 kg honey, the value is as sold 120 euros. As winter food value is 20 euros.

You just give 100 euros for nothing.

.
 
Last edited:
.

why beekeeping methods in such places as Finland must differ from those in the UK.

Well said Dishmop:iagree:



jeee, well said. God bless to all!

First you ask where to get cheap sugar, and then you feed your yield to bees and eate cheap sugar
or what is going on....

heheheheh, well said, well said

,
 
Last edited:
blaa blaa blaa. Now it is not a question what bees do. Beekeeping is such that a beekeepr takes honey and gives sugar instead.

Don't try to be too wise.

If it works for you then fine .... just stop trying to tell those of us that think differently that we are wrong - try reading Dale Carnegie "How to win friends and influence people" ... it's nearly as old as you and still relevant !
 
If it works for you then fine .... just stop trying to tell those of us that think differently that we are wrong - try reading Dale Carnegie "How to win friends and influence people" ... it's nearly as old as you and still relevant !


Question is about scietific fact, not about my opinion.

What I say is that you are wrong. Sugar is as good winter food to bees as sugar.

I am not here winning frieds but giving true knowledge about beekeeping.

.
 
why beekeeping methods in such places as Finland must differ from those in the UK.
because its about 3 times gnikcuf colder.

You look after your bees the way you want. It may work for you but its not the way that everybody wants to do it.

If other people dont want to do it another way, doesnt mean that it is the wrong way.

Your only concern seems to be money.
 
Do you know any other beekeepers that can extract the excess honey for you? If I were local I'd give you a hand.
 
Do you know any other beekeepers that can extract the excess honey for you? If I were local I'd give you a hand.

Thanks Ely ... why is that as soon as Finman posts it always gets dragged away from the OP ? You brought us back to the OP's problem ... they are clearly not fit enough to lift heavy supers and manipulate hives and needed advice about what to do with their existing honey packed supers over the winter and how much they could leave in place...

Not a word from Finman of good advice on that ....
 

Latest posts

Back
Top