> Emne: Re: life or death decisions for light colonies
>
>
> > very difficult to simulate them. I combined many colonies last fall
> > and I must say that the effort was mostly wasted...
>
> re-arranging of the brood combs after August can be fatal.

That's is also my experience. I think it is best to rearrange what is to
rearrange before the feeding take place, and then leave the bees alone for
the winter when the last feed are done.

> The question of feed is the difficult one, since any hive that has been
> starving, will be made up of bees that will prove to be useless
> for wintering.

That's why it is recommended, to start feeding as soon as the last honey is
harvested. When this is done at that time, the bees might be able still to
collect a little honey and pollen for the winter.

> We feed outside in drums and they will
> forage for it

well feeding outside the hives might work for you, but here in Denmark it is
forbidden to feed the bees in the open, for many reasons, but mostly for
robbery ( I personal hate to feed my neighbours bees) and spread of
diseases. An other reason is that one can never be sure that the feed goes
into the right hives.

when I need to feed late I am using a method I once saw in used in a school
Beeyard. Take a 10 litre Freezing bag (from the supermarket) fill it with 5
litre of syrup and close it with a rubber band. Place it on the top of the
hive and put an empty super around as cover. Now use a secure needle to
prick 5 holes in the top of the freezing bag, cover on and leve for a few
days. Replace with a new bag if needed. The bees should have at lest 15kg of
feed for the winter. This method can also be used in the spring if the need
is there for feeding.

Don't disturb the bees in the winter. You are likely making more damage than
good.

Best regards
Jorn Johanesson

Multilingual software for beekeeping since 1997

hive note- queen breeding and handheld computer beekeeping software
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