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Catherine New Bee
Joined: 13 Mar 2014 Posts: 1 Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 10:03 pm Post subject: How early can I feed sugar water? |
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It's still snowy here but had a few days around 10 degrees C. How early can we start feeding with sugar water?? |
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zaunreiter Moderator Bee

Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 3097 Location: Germany, NorthWest
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:13 am Post subject: |
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Makes them poo if fed too early. Feeding honey is best, if you have your own. Second option is too feed luke warm sugar water beneath the combs but only in small amounts. In shallow warm plates/bowls. Third option is luke warm water in ziplock bags above the topbars, bees access it through a few small punch holes.
I feed by fondant dough, though, if no honey is available. Shown here: |
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zaunreiter Moderator Bee

Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 3097 Location: Germany, NorthWest
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:29 am Post subject: |
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The winter cluster sits right below the fondant, the wrapping is most important. The bees access the dough from below through a small slot that runs across all topbars. First you see only a small hole that the bees eat.
As you can see in the picture, the moisture laden air - bees are breathing! - condenses at the foil. Bees have food and water this way. This is nice. The fondant must not dryout, the foil is essential.
Bees eating through the fondant. Bees need about 4 kg food in Springtime per month. It costs a lot of stores to raise and warm the first brood.
Bees walk straight from the combs into the bag.
One more thing. The bag pools the warmth raising from the cluster. The warmth is essential for the bees to take the food at this time of year. Warmth is important.
Winter feeding always is risky and best avoided by feeding in late summer, after checking stores regularily. You need one kilogramm of honey per winter month and four kilogramm per spring months. And a locally adapted bee that knows to winter. |
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Quality Top Bar Hives by Andrew Vidler
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Conserving wild bees
Research suggests that bumble bee boxes have a very low success rate in actually attracting bees into them. We find that if you create an environment where first of all you can attract mice inside, such as a pile of stones, a drystone wall, paving slabs with intentionally made cavities underneath, this will increase the success rate.
Most bumble bee species need a dry space about the size a football, with a narrow entrance tunnel approximately 2cm in diameter and 20 cm long. Most species nest underground along the base of a linear feature such as a hedge or wall. Sites need to be sheltered and out of direct sunlight.
There is a spectacular display of wild bee hotels here
More about bumblebees and solitary bees here
Information about the Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
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