> I question this whole thread, does 
> anyone have any data on
> cost/benefit for feeding bees?

There are two schools of thought - archaic and modern. Doolittle, Pellett
and others pooh-poohed the entire idea, but I think that this impression may
have been a result of not providing continuous/sufficient feed - Doolittle's
"teacupful of thin sweet every day" was likely consumed and utilized before
he made it back to his own porch.  No wonder he saw little advantage from
his "feeding".

In modern times, I would expect all operations of any significant size to
feed to get brood rearing going.

But the answer for the Fingerlakes is not the same as the answer for areas
with less brutal winters.

In the pollination of apples (and even moreso for almonds), feeding bees in
early spring and/or transporting them to warmer places for overwintering are
the only two tactics known to result in having strong enough hives to be in
the pollination business at all.  The "benefit" is survival of the business.

Now, if I were to transport my bees to SC or GA, I'd still have to at least
engage in some simulative feeding, as persistent best efforts have yet to
produce a method of avoiding the mid-winter slowdown/shutdown in egg laying,
and one has to "jump start" colonies into aggressive brood rearing with a
significant amount of both nectar and protein. ("Significant" so that the
supply does not run out, and send the bees back into a midwinter torpor.
So, we are talking about multiple gallons of syrup, and multi-pound pollen
patties per colony per yard visit to get the brood build-up required.)

At what point is diesel to haul hives 1000 miles each way cheaper than feed?
For apples, there seems none, as the pollination fees are lower than what is
paid for almonds.  Can I reduce the need for feed by leveraging a bloom to
the south for colony build-up?  Perhaps, but this is not a good wager, as
weather varies and contracts do not include clauses allowing for excuses
about weather.  There is also a cost to hauling hives in terms of collateral
damage, queen losses, wear and tear.  Overall, I'd rather turn feed into
bees than turn diesel into bees purely from a risk management / loss
minimization standpoint, as a small-time operator could be frustrated by a
truck breakdown, being forced to spend money to both rent a replacement
truck and fix the broken truck at the same time.

If your only concern was honey, then you likely cannot justify any diesel.
But you would still do well to feed when snow is still on the ground to
maximize the foraging force for the spring blooms.  The bees are happy to
build up population on the bloom, but the beekeeper wants to build up the
population FOR the bloom.  Supering drawn comb just as the early sentinel
plants start to bloom is really only a worthwhile effort on colonies that
have been fed for at least a few brood 
cycles prior.  

Here the question is easier to ask and measure - "Does feeding turn a profit
in terms of a larger honey crop?"  For most beekeepers, I'd wager "clearly
yes" is the answer, but only if they invest in large-capacity hive-top or
in-hive feeders, and stop making those wimpy little half-pound and one-pound
pollen patties.  From what I have seen, many beekeepers try to use those
annoying 2-quart entrance feeders, which are too small when the temperatures
are warm, and inaccessible when the temps are cold.   Many beekeepers
massively underestimate the ability of a hive to take feed and turn into
bees in February (in the mid-Atlantic, later as one moves north), even worse
than they underestimate the utilization rate of supers of empty drawn comb
in the early evaporation stages for spring nectar.

So, the first question has to be "how much syrup do my hives take from a
hive-top feeder per day when the temperatures are no longer brutal?"
Assuming a generous pollen-patty supply, the "syrup consumed" metric alone
will quickly reveal if feeding at any one time is going to make a difference
for any one climate.

But feeding is just one factor in a series of steps, and I need to both have
lots of drawn comb on the hives early and the willingness to wade through
snow to feed bees if I want to maximize a honey crop.  As in most things,
halfway measures never succeed.  




 

             ***********************************************
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