"How do you select for bees that will make their winter stores when 
there's no flow?"

Or, when the flow ends, but the warm weather continues?  I don't like to feed sugar because:

1) I am lazy;
2) I am cheap;
3) I would like to raise bees that are optimized for my area;
4) It is more 'natural' (whatever that word really means).

Would like to put the list in reverse order of priority, but that would be dishonest (although #3 is what I tell myself is the main reason).

Anyway, thanks to global climate change, or microclimate change, or the advent of the end of the Mayan calendar and civilization as we know it, or whatever, fall seems to be lasting longer here in my part of northern New England, significantly beyond the end of the fall flow.  Today may be the last blast of summer weather for a while, with temps breaking 80F (hit 86 yesterday).  My platform scale hive is still gaining weight, and I see lots of goldenrod pollen coming in.  But, very soon flow will dry up, as evidenced by robbing starting in earnest.  After that we can go several weeks, before the bees finally cluster for winter.  In that time they can burn through a lot of stores, especially if it was a lean summer.  One of the reasons I like NWC is that they can survive with a really small cluster - I have seen them softball sized in late winter, and I was certain they would not survive, but have, happily, been proven wrong.  But, even running three deeps, there are times, when I have to feed, especially with colonies from splits earlier in the season that might not have built up as much as the older colonies.  It's  not natural, but then nothing about beekeeping is really natural.  In the end I guess I'd rather have live unnatural bees than dead natural bees.

Just my two cents.

Bill

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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm