More C&H
To date, I have fed 10 hives 60 pounds of C&H sugar- and I've been curious to know what they do with it. In some hives, a lot- maybe 10%?- feel through to the bottom screen. But the rest just disappears. Are they eating it as they need it, or are they eating it, processing it, and storing it?
Up to yesterday it hadn't felt warm enough to look through a hive, but it It was sunny yesterday, so I opened #6, the strongest hive, and tried to figure out what they had done with all that sugar. The hive seemed packed with bees- and I saw the queen, plus some baby bees- which surprised me. I pulled out 3 or 4 frames from each super and I looked for food- and brood- and saw almost none. There was a 4in sq patch of capped honey on one frame, with uncapped nectar on the frame as well- maybe that’s the sugar that they've liquefied? It wasn't much- maybe there was more elsewhere, but a cursory search showed none.
Which immediately suggested that this hive- and others like it (turns out 3 others)- were on the edge of collapse. Lots of pollen I think- but no food. This is so different than past years- they have just eaten it all quickly- and there are lots more bees- almost in every hive- than i have seen in past years. None seem (at this point) weak (like just a small cluster).
So I went to the family grocer and bought 4# C&H for $2 a bag (on sale)- which is a great deal (a 25 lb bag is $19 now, so that's like the same for $12). Then, instead of using paper again, which just seemed to make a mess and the sugar gets dumped to the bottom board when they eat through it, I tried a length of aluminum foil, and pushed it into the 2" spacer so it had three sides and covered half the hive top- then I dumped a full 4# bag, and then sprayed it carefully with mist setting on the garden hose. A spray bottle was way too slow, and I needed lots of water. I did the water thing to make it more of a paste, and give them a start. Lots of sugar from a few weeks ago still seemed dry- so this seemed to make sense.
I did all the 10 hives this way- even if they still had sugar left. Maybe two had quite a bit left, probably 1 or 2 pounds, but most did not.
Up to yesterday it hadn't felt warm enough to look through a hive, but it It was sunny yesterday, so I opened #6, the strongest hive, and tried to figure out what they had done with all that sugar. The hive seemed packed with bees- and I saw the queen, plus some baby bees- which surprised me. I pulled out 3 or 4 frames from each super and I looked for food- and brood- and saw almost none. There was a 4in sq patch of capped honey on one frame, with uncapped nectar on the frame as well- maybe that’s the sugar that they've liquefied? It wasn't much- maybe there was more elsewhere, but a cursory search showed none.
Which immediately suggested that this hive- and others like it (turns out 3 others)- were on the edge of collapse. Lots of pollen I think- but no food. This is so different than past years- they have just eaten it all quickly- and there are lots more bees- almost in every hive- than i have seen in past years. None seem (at this point) weak (like just a small cluster).
So I went to the family grocer and bought 4# C&H for $2 a bag (on sale)- which is a great deal (a 25 lb bag is $19 now, so that's like the same for $12). Then, instead of using paper again, which just seemed to make a mess and the sugar gets dumped to the bottom board when they eat through it, I tried a length of aluminum foil, and pushed it into the 2" spacer so it had three sides and covered half the hive top- then I dumped a full 4# bag, and then sprayed it carefully with mist setting on the garden hose. A spray bottle was way too slow, and I needed lots of water. I did the water thing to make it more of a paste, and give them a start. Lots of sugar from a few weeks ago still seemed dry- so this seemed to make sense.
I did all the 10 hives this way- even if they still had sugar left. Maybe two had quite a bit left, probably 1 or 2 pounds, but most did not.
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