> Allen, what are your current temps? Here in Maine we had a long warm 
> spell - generally in the 50s and was up to 70F on Saturday. But we will 
> see some low temps this next week and weekend, low 40s and 30s during the 
> day. Nights in the teens or lower... Last time this sort of thing happened 
> in Maine, some beekeepers lost their bees to starvation because bees were 
> keeping brood warm and did not venture a few inches to honey. Which is 
> when I learned all about candy.

The temperatures are shown graphically at 
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/images/2009/ac20.h6.jpg

And, you are very right.  A cold snap could be bad for hives on the edge.

One thing about the patties is that they have both sugar and protein.  They 
are not candy, but act a bit like it in that the sugar is slow-release and 
very close-by.  The difference is that the sugar is bound up with the 
protein food, so they have to take both -- or neither.  That has always been 
something I have wondered about.  Personally I don't think that protein food 
is a stimulant so much as it allows the bees to actually successfully raise 
the brood they are always trying to raise, but which is either stunted or 
eaten when proteins in the colony runs short.

The most vulnerable stage in the spring is when there is a large amount of 
open brood and the bees are most exposed to sudden changes in the 
environment.   After they have laid all the brood their population allows 
and are sitting on sealed brood, they are much less vulnerable, so long as 
the adult bees do not start to die off too quickly leaving the brood 
exposed.

With my hives' total average weight loss currently running at about 0.4 
pounds a day (see the URL) a few patties in the cluster provide some 
insurance against quick starvation, but starvation is always a possibility 
if the combs are nearly empty, granulated and far away and the patties run 
out.

It is for this very reason that I plan to get some syrup into them 
tomorrow -- my friends are bringing a drum of 2/1 sucrose over -- and I have 
already moved feed closer to some which were short.

The syrup, assuming that there are a few good days to allow access, will be 
moved quickly into position near brood by the bees and then they should be 
good for a cold spell, but you are very right:  I am a little worried, and 
appreciate your concern.  I have seen this movie before but am working for a 
better outcome.  The hives are still well-wrapped.

Good clusters of healthy are much less likely to starve, since such bees 
have some reserve energy, and good bees can increase metabolism greatly when 
necessary, but the weakest hives are vulnerable.

I have always figured that good hives do not starve if there is still feed 
in the top box, and that such starvation is usually or maybe always a sign 
of bees which are somehow deficient or just plain worn out.

 

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