February had an outstanding maple flow this year, and most hives look really nice. This is an illusion that fools many inexperienced beekeepers. I want to drum in the concept that bees are not self sustaining until about April 1, even in the south. In fact there is a dearth right now. And the strongest hives are the ones that will suffer first, because they are rearing a lot of brood. If their food supply is depleted, and they are living day to day on what little nectar is available, they can starve down in just three or four days of bad weather. Take the handhold on the back of the hive and heft it. If it feels light, feed. You are only safe, if it feels like it is anchored to the ground. Furthermore, yellow jasmine is starting to bloom about two weeks early. Yellow jasmine is poisonous to the brood. Most of the time there are other more attractive nectar sources and bees will ignore yellow jasmine. But if there is little else, they will work this flower and brood will die. I have never seen a hive killed by yellow jasmine, but I've seen some set back quite badly by loss of brood. By feeding thin syrup at this time, you will give the bees an alternative to yellow jasmine and reduce the poison damage. I've never seen jasmine damage in a hive that is being fed, or one that has a good nectar flow going on. I want to emphasize this again: NOW is the time to check, and likely feed, your bees in the southeast. Northern beekeepers have a little more time left. Bees consume very little honey through the winter here, but consume enormous amounts when they begin serious brood rearing. They can outrun their food supply very quickly. Hives that starve may survive, but the bees, in a desperate move may suck the body fluids from the brood, so that the adults may survive. A hive that has gone down this far, will take a LONG time to recover, probably until after the spring honey flow. Don't, don't assume that your bees that hung out the entrance during the maple flow are just fine now. CHECK! If you open them up, keep in mind that open cells of nectar/honey do not count a bit for reserves; only sealed honey counts, and a hive should still have a couple frames of sealed honey, or it better have a feeder on it. (We recently had a good doctor who claims that sugar is dangerous to the health of the bees. I don't agree, but as an alternative, you may give them some frames of honey you saved last fall. Feeding liquid honey is not a good idea.) I do save some honey in the frames (deep) for this time of year, but not enough to really feed the entire operation. When I see a hive that has no reserve feed, I put a frame of honey right next to the cluster. This gives them immediate feed that is always right where they need it. Then I also feed them some syrup to stimulate brood rearing. [log in to unmask] Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html The Pollination Home Page: http://www.pollinator.com Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm