Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[Surfnirvana]

We had a mild day recently and took a peek in our WBC hive to see how they are doing (we have a glass crown board), and they all seemed to be fine and have survived the very cold December!

 

I was just wondering when we should start to think about feeding them. I know it is when the weather starts to pick up temperature wise, but just wondering what other people have done in the past and how early they have fed them.

 

Thanks

[Guest]

have survived the very cold December

 

I would hope that very few colonies would succumb in the first 4 weeks of the winter!

 

You can start to think about feeding them if you are intending them to be ready for the early flow (OSR?)

 

Or are you thinking something else?

 

If I were not bothered, I would simply not feed them - they, after all, should have sufficient reserves if the beekeeper has done the job properly, in all but the harshest winters (and this one, so far, is nowhere near as harsh as 1963).

 

If you are going to feed for 'early spring build up' you need to remember the foragers will be over three weeks old and you need enough brood cycles (or egg-laying time) prior to that to realise the colony population at your target time. On top of that there are other requirements - like adequate protein, brooding space, water, warmth.

 

The main risk is that unless a careful watch is kept on them, they can starve (in a very short time) with a high brooding rate, if the weather is not warm enough for them to forage - so adequate stores of protein and carbohydrate must be maintained once they start brooding heavily.

 

I intend to start to boost my two Dartingtons as soon as they are at all active, or around the middle of Feb, and basically reinforce the 'production' colonies from them. I don't run so many 'production' colonies, but I find it easier to move bees/hatching brood from the static hives to reinforce the colonies on the OSR as the flow starts. That way I know the colonies will not be moving sugar syrup into a super, per eg.

 

So your 'starting point' to think about is when you want your colonies at near full strength. If you want 30,000 foragers (half a full colony at it's peak) you would need them emerging at an excess of 1500 bees per day for about three weeks and then another three weeks for them to mature into foragers. That is 6 weeks at 'full steam' for the queen's egg output. Unless a WBC is on at least a double brood, the space required per brood cycle will be a limiting factor.

 

If you have a first season queen she will likely easily exceed that lay-rate in early spring; if into her second (or third!) full season she will not be quite as prolific as a younger queen. So the first thig to think about is dates and then work back from there. Experience of your strain will yield information as to when the bees need the 'wake-up call'.

 

If this is only your second season, might I recommend a very conservative approach and that you gather a little more experience before trying to start too early. If you only have one colony, you do not want to risk accelerating the egg laying rate much before there are drones at hand, should your 'only' queen require supercedure (it happens) at short notice.

 

It is very easy to get caught out. Last year the OSR caught up, after a late start, but the bees were limited to the fixed 3 week brood cycle and my bees were basically too late to take advantage of the full OSR flow (ie they were collecting nectar for brood expansion rather than a large excess of honey. For me that is better than feeding them sugar syrup for two or three cold weeks to keep the large colonies from starvation. And certainly better than dealing with DLQ too early in the season!

 

Regards, RAB

[Surfnirvana]

Thank you so much for such a detailed and informative reply - I appreciate it.