In a message dated 11/28/2014 5:05:47 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

THe  message I am getting is that if I want splittable hives early I should 
start  feeding patties in January and not Nov. or Dec., right?
 
Yes,  If you want to split the end of February/First of  March.  Tough to 
get queens much earlier unless you want to make a "walk  away split" and let 
the bees raise their own queen.  If they raise their  own queen the first 
workers would emerge in the middle of  April.   This means that you will not 
have many bees if you are interested in catching  the nectar flow in SC ( end 
of March/first of April thru end of May/first of  June).  Don't know what 
your strategy/goal is.  If you feed  patties/syrup too early you will be 
spending a lot of money keeping the bees  alive and not starving.
 
Steve Tabor  often thought about experimenting and feeding patties/  syrup 
early to see if he could make a super of honey off the maples the end of  
January/first of February.  I do not know of anyone in SC that has  
successfully done that.
 
Dave MacFawn
Lexington, SC

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html