From:   [log in to unmask] (Scott Moser)
> All the literature says that you shouldnt
>feed brown sugar, but they dont say why.  Is 25 percent too high?

    I fed brown sugar to bees for many years, because I was able to get
salvage very cheaply.  What you need to remember is that it contains a lot of
indigestible material, so it should never be fed in fall, when bees'
cleansing flights will soon be restricted by cold.  In the spring when bees
will be able to fly freely, they can handle it quite nicely.

>Checked a few hives today, and the girls appear to be bringing in a bit of
nectar.
> I noticed that the Silver Maples appear to be blooming.

    And you are wise to see the maple flow as a signal to feed. The maple
flow fools many beekeepers into thinking that the bees can now feed
themselves. What it actually does is to stimulate the queen. Sometimes the
bees use up all the maple flow in rearing brood. Sometimes they actually do
put in a little surplus. But it is almost always used up quickly in the
dearth period that follows. Bees with little resources will then starve; the
strongest, broodiest hives die first, when a freeze kills buds, or a stormy
period prevents flight.

    So check all hives for reserves. Never count any uncapped nectar that you
see in the early spring as a food reserve. It will quickly disappear. If the
bees do not have ample capped reserved, then feed, feed, feed. The strongest
hives will use the feed most efficiently.

    In late spring the situation will change overnight and you must also be
quick to recognize that you must switch from feed mode to swarm control mode.
That is not a problem. It just means that you now have the "bee power" to
make replacement hives and to make early spring (the best) honey, if you are
a good manager.

    The maple bloom is over, here in South Carolina. There is all kinds of
bloom apparent right now (see:
http://pollinator.com/gallery/February/february_flowers.htm). But most of
this bloom is pollen rich and nectar poor, which means the bees will brood up
and starve, if not equipped with lots of reserve honey OR feed. It will be
the end of March before they will be getting sufficient nectar to support
themselves.

   I would far rather have swarmy bees in early April than to have dead bees
from a stormy period around March 20.

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com