Allen wrote:  "We have found that hives with less feed are more active and actually consume more, and hives which are being fed in winter also do more poorly than one might expect.  For us, the time to feed is in early fall, then in spring when the pollen starts."
 
I sure can't argue that point, and if I had my "druthers," these hives would have had more stores in the comb last September.
 
However, this point I am certain:  a poorly producing hive that was fed will do better than a hive that starved in the winter.  My feeding is more of an emergency band-aid than something I want to count on as a prescriptive practice every year!
 
Southeast Missouri isn't really north or south, and my general hope is to go into winter with a single brood box full of bees and one medium super of stored honey.  That's usually enough to get them through the winter when our weather breaks in early to mid-March.  Then a little stimulative feeding really cranks them into gear.
 
All the best,
 
Grant
Jackson, MO
 
 


      

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