Colony is breeding too soon, what to feed them?

[ugcheleuce]

Hello everyone

Me and a friend of mine at whose house my bees are overwintering decided about 2 weeks ago to take a sneak peek into the hives to see if they have enough food. I only checked the outer frames (and they still had food in them) because I did not want to disturb the cluster. However, my friend has now reported that both his and my colony have raised the overall temperature of the boxes to what we can only assume is breeding temperature. And now... the weather has turned cold again.

The bees have been collecting pollen for the past three weeks, on warmer days, but there are no nectar plants available at this time.

I assume I have to feed the bees again, to ensure that they don't run out of their left-over winter supplies. Is that right? What combination of sugar/water should I feed? And how often/how much? I don't want to discourage the bees from going out and finding pollen when the weather is warm.

Thanks
Samuel

 

[Davea]

Just slap a chunk of fondant on- NOT syrup at this stage.
Keep the fondant going until your first inspection of the season say 14-15C +.
Then you'll be better placed to know the amount of stores they have and whether to keep feeding or not.

 

[oliver90owner]

It is simple. If they have sufficient carbohydrate stores (honey) in the hive, they don't need any more. If they have sufficient protein stores (pollen) in the hive, they don't need any more. They won't have sufficient water in the hive if they are brooding heavily and cannot get out to collect it.

Simple as that. Supply what they need. Thin syrup has been used for years as the feed to encourage brooding; I personally think the water is the more important commodity, for most hives that were well stocked in the autumn. Without all three components, the bees cannot rear brood in large quantities. As simple as that.

RAB

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I am happy to put (thin) syrup on at this time of year.

 

[Pete D]

Hi Samuel,
my thoughts are that your bees are doing the same as everybodies else's are about now. I certainly hope mine are doing the same.
I havent had a sneak peak to re-assure or worry me but through hefting and seeing pollen going in now and in the autumn I am quite happy that they have sufficient of the essentials for brood rearing, which is why they are doing it. The bees seem to know what they are doing and have been doing it well for many years before we intervened and mostly equally as well since we have.
Good luck for the coming season
cheers

 

[sharonh]

Hi Samuel,
my thoughts are that your bees are doing the same as everybodies else's are about now. I certainly hope mine are doing the same.
I havent had a sneak peak to re-assure or worry me but through hefting and seeing pollen going in now and in the autumn I am quite happy that they have sufficient of the essentials for brood rearing, which is why they are doing it. The bees seem to know what they are doing and have been doing it well for many years before we intervened and mostly equally as well since we have.
Good luck for the coming season
cheers

I agree with Pete,
They know what thy are doing. Seeing pollen go in is a good sign, mine is doing the same.
Happy beekeeping
Regards
Sharon