> Of course, out bees are native (or near-native) A.m.m. If we were
> running Italians then we would have no option other than to run at
> least double brood - and feed an awful lot more! We are now feeding
> only 10-15 lbs of fondant per colony.

I keep my bees in singe national brood boxes throughout the year and
weigh them in the autumn to gauge their weight of stores.  If they are
judged underweight I feed enough to get their stores up to about 25lbs.
That's enough to get them through a longer than average winter and they
only occasionally run out if winter returns after the bees have started
expanding in earnest in the spring.  By then I can safely feed sugar
syrup again but it's very rare.  Contrary to a lot of people's reports I
find a cold winter requires no more food than a mild one, in fact they
often consume less when it's cold. Like Peter's my bees are also near
native (Amm).

Steve Rose, North Wales

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