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)
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