Andy Nachbaur wrote:
 
> " . . .So my advise is take off the honey even if you are going to keep it for
> feed at a later date, and feed the bees to increase brood rearing during
> the times they will respond to that diets, does no good to feed them in the
> dead of winter and may do harm,  . . ."
 
Andy,
 
The best results I have generally seen with wintering in coastal Alaska
include intermittent winter feeing of sugar syrup and honey/yeast
patties.  It still has not been truely successful, but better than
giving them "enough" to get through the winter.  We had one fellow who
used the canadian four packs and claimed success.  But his success was
lots of bees in early march.  I can get lots of bees in early march any
time I please, but getting a queen to start laying takes more than
waiting till spring.
 
The best wintered colony I have seen up here was kept a couple years by
a beekeeper who feed a couple gallong of syrup every month to bees in
heavily insulated colonies.  He had enough pollen in the combs to have
more bees in april than I have in march.  I am adapting his system to my
needs.  I am trickle feeding now with temps around freezing.  The bees
don't seem to be taking much, but they now have frames of brood that was
not present a month ago, before I began my "trickle feeding".
 
My results may be of interest only to David Eyre, outside of the
Anchorage area.  But, I wanted to point out that like all hard and fast
rules this "no winter feeding" may vary with climate.  Of course we are
outside the normal range of the honeybee.
 
Tom
--
"Test everything.  Hold on to the good."  (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
 
Tom Elliott
Chugiak,  Alaska
U.S.A.
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