Red Alert: It's Time to Feed Your Bees!

Are you worried it might be too cold to feed syrup? Check out this other video of ours on feeding liquid and solids: • How to Feed Honey Bees...
It's always important to be aware of the amount of food your bees have stored, and it's especially important just before winter. Don't assume the brood chamber is full of enough honey! This video shows an easy way to check the relative weight of a hive and gives a few ways of feeding.
Products featured in this video:
10 Frame Entrance Reducer: www.betterbee....
Complete Double Nuc Setup: www.betterbee....
3-Season Universal Hive Feeder: www.betterbee....
2 Gallon Feeder Pail: www.betterbee....
Deep Division Board Feeder: www.betterbee....
Lyson Hive Top Feeder: www.betterbee....
10 Frame Hive Top Feeder: www.betterbee....
Part-Vent Jacket: www.betterbee....
B.J. Sherriff Honey Rustler Jacket: www.betterbee....

[@bradgoliphant]

Thank you BetterBee. This is most helpful. I too live in New York. When is your usually close up date that you walk away? Does that come when daytime temps start to be lower than 50 degrees?

[@betterbee1979]

Hi there, Brad! We don't walk away. After being certain the hive is heavy enough (which we do before the days drop consistently below 50 degrees F), we will give an oxalic acid mite treatment about 4 weeks later, and we also go back around Christmas and once a month until spring, to lift the edge of each hive for a quick sense of weight, and to see if any died. If any died, their honey can be moved to lighter hives. Or, maybe some hives need solid food like winter patties of plain sugar after Christmas but well before spring perks the colony up. Hope this information is helpful!

[@bradgoliphant]

@@betterbee1979 Ya, being that I only have two hives, I don't treat because I have no varroa! Very fortunate. No SHBs either. No disease!!! My hive is packed and lots of honey but feeding them 2/1 with vitamins. After our first frost, which may be in a couple weeks, I plan on adding a candboard and wrapping them up and say thank you for a great year.

[@jonhatchcirclejfarms1628]

I live in vermont , so I've noticed too that my bees are to light for winter. I put 2/1 syrup on but they are not really taking it. The queen is pretty restricted so I went to a 1/1 mixture thinking with the warm weather they would become honey bound. Does this make sense?

[@betterbee1979]

Hi Jon! Depending on the method of feeding, the bees will consume it faster. We use the frame feeder, and bees take a gallon in 2 days. If using a pail or jars as feeders, sometimes the holes get full of propolis so the bees can't drink it as much as they want. The holes must be checked. I would not go to 1:1, since then the bees need to evaporate much more water off the syrup to make it as thick as honey for winter. Check the feeder. We actually try to use thicker than 2:1 if we can mix it that way. At this time of year, we actually want them to be honey bound! If they don't get heavy with syrup, or already had honey enough to be very, very heavy, then the solution is to feed them dry sugar or winter patties in the late fall or winter. Let us know if you have more questions!