I'm taking a break from feeding syrup, and I thought I'd respond to
"Newbee's" post.
Our weather has been very similar, throughout the year. I started this year
with 11 Russian packages  April 20, Five queenless 2 lb. Italians mid-May
given Purvis Gold Line queens, and two Italian/alleged Carny  nucs mid-May
from a local fellow who's been working the line for 15+ years. I took
maximum advantage of Russian queen cell building to increase, plus used
queen-rearing kit for selected colonies. The pure Russians took off, and by
July I harvested 100+ lbs. total  from 3 or 4 of them. I'm not sure of the
source, but it was excellent light yellow honey. After that the drought hit.
In August, I inspected just in time, as most colonies were nearing
desperation. The Russians slowed down brood rearing, but not completely. The
others varied. Some of the smaller nucs were dry, and consuming brood. They
all recovered virtually immediately with feeding. I hadn't let more than 8
or 9 days go without checking them, so I don't feel guilty of neglect. But
it reinforced the concept of  being in tune with day to day conditions. As I
fed them, brood rearing picked up, and had the weather cooperated they would
have been in reasonably good shape to benefit from abundant fall blossoms.
One thing that probably can't be stressed too much: If you start feeding
under these conditions, you can't stop, or the bees will consume the brood,
the resources will mostly be wasted, and they will end up as short on stores
as when you started.
  Somehow I've ended up with about 35 colonies, and the weather lately has
been very mild, which allows me to feed, feed, feed. I'm certain this will
mean an awful lot come spring. With  our very mild weather here in S.E.
Pennsylvania, I thought I'd try putting out some pollen substitute one day
last week. They took to it
immediately, and as we speak, they are all over it. I have it placed on an
inverted hive top, with plenty of sticks for them to work it. I am also
feeding syrup as described in this month's Bee Culture-using a can to fill
empty combs and placing them on the bottom. As the author indicated, bees
were filling the brood nest with nectar as brood rearing closed out, which
could be
observed because the extended warmth allowed blossoming to continue.
The Russians are interesting, no doubt about it. I was tremendously
impressed early on, but I'm pretty sure that their ultimate value will be
found in contributing to the gene pool. The pure strains will need a lot of
work to control swarming/supercedure and several other traits some exhibit,
that pose management challenges  beyond those the average beekeeper might
choose to deal with.
Good luck to all, Happy Holidays!
Tim

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