>
> > but also aware of some great beeks who feed hard in the fall for
> continual winter build and do well also.
>

In California at elevations at which bees don't go into hard cluster often,
one can feed protein all winter for continuous broodrearing and huge
colonies.


> If autumn dearth is the trigger then hives fed in fall  would seemingly
> collapse even more in Jan time frame??  a bit contrary to ground reality.


Didn't follow your logic Charlie.  That's not what Matilla and Otis found.
They found that fall feeding merely delayed the onset of winter bee
formation, apparently since the colonies continued to rear brood for a
longer period.  They didn't observe (if memory serves) any sort of collapse
due to the extended broodrearing.  Please realize that they published a few
studies on this.  Try reading:
Manipulating pollen supply in honey bee colonies during the fall does not
affect the performance of winter bees.


-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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