Thankyou for demonstrating the Mountain Camp method. For those of you implying that he is feeding sugar because he robbed the bees of all their honey, a large cluster like this, or a cluster enduring a hard winter (especially if they had a poor honey flow in the summer) will eat all their honey and need more food to make it through Jan/Feb when they are rearing lots of new bees for the spring. This is emergency rations!
Last year I lost my first hive due to moisture (I'm in Oregon. No shortage of rain!). This year I'm using a Vivaldi board with cedar chips to soak up the respiration, and being very aware of moisture. This method seems seem really practical. As soon as my bee eat up the fondant I made, I'm going to try this. Thanks a million. (Always learning something!)
I know NOTHING about bees except that they sting but have been watching these feeding videos out of curiosity and have to say I really like that you are giving them sugar - I've seen gooey "pollen substitutes" and wheat flour and Lord knows what else but if I were a bee I'd want SUGAR - one guy said he did it cuz sugar was too expensive - can you imagine me feeding my dogs rice because dog food was to expensive? if you can't feed 'em don't have 'em
We have been using this method on and off for years. It's not always necessary to do but it's a relatively cheap insurance policy and it does absorb a lot of moisture. It's mid March and I just looked in on this hive. The sugar was completely gone and there was very little paper left. In 8 years of using this method, I've never lost a hive due to starvation. This is not a replacement for leaving honey on in the fall. It's just a preventative measure and a good one at that.
I noticed the notch in the top cover was down during the summer it go's up correct? and with dry sugar they don't get any water or do they need water to survive in the winter, I'm new to bee keeping and live in NH so we can get hard winters also, bought my first nuc memorial day weekend caught a swarm 3 weeks later just took 7 frames from swarm box to split it and hoped I didn't get queen and just checked it yesterday they had 10 queen cells started 2 capped so I'm thinking about splitting that hive to split to queens
Noticed that you have a nice fence to protect your hives from bears ..... but your fence it too close to your hives and any bear can just reach in and knock over the hives and get to the brood - need about 3-4 feet from fence to hives
Hey, good eye Seth! In fact that is exactly what happened later that season. He didn't make much of a mess thank goodness. The bees weren't thrilled about it but I just stacked them back up on the stand and they were fine. A good lesson though.
Hi and thanks for posting the video. I do have a question though about how much to feed them. Putting in the amount you did on the video, will that be enough for the rest of the winter or do you have to go in there and add more once a month, every other week? It's the beginning of March 2014 now and I've put in some sugar two weekends in a row (not this past weekend though -- way too cold) and I'm worried they'll run out before it's warm enough to check the hives again. Thanks in advance.
It really depends on the hive. I have seen them make it on 5 pounds and some take 10 or 15. I only feed like this until it's warm enough for them to take down syrup. If it's a question of them running out of food vs being warm enough to check, I would open 'em up and feed them. It's a minor disturbance to them especially when it's cold. They are not as active and if you work quickly and methodically, you won't have any trouble.
That's very much for the follow up. I did take a peek this past weekend and they still had food so I'm good 'til this coming weekend when I'll add more. Thanks again.
In our region of upstate NY it's not uncommon to experience extended periods of very cold (non-flying) days. For this reason we do not advocate feeding bees protein or other indigestibles where the bees will be forced to hold metabolic waste in their midgut for prolonged periods of time without a cleansing flight. It can lead to dysentery or exacerbate an otherwise mild Nosema infection.
@@jorikphillips8131 I cannot thank you enough. This makes SO MUCH SENSE to me and I heard it loud and clear. Now I am certain what to do, and very grateful for learning this lesson. Thanks Jorik. Happy New Year to you and your bees.
New Bee Tom here- Noticed your inner cover has a small notch mid way. Is this for access or venting? Does your cover seal the notch? The older man I got my bee start from could not stress enough the need for Bee patties to feed. He said the extra aditives they incorporate helps ensure the health of the bees, As he has not treated his bees with the onslot of treatments everyone is pushing. He has had no problems by just giving the patties method.
Hi Tom, the notch in the inner cover provides an upper entrance for the bees. 2 or 3 feet of snow is not uncommon in our area and the notch allows the bees to exit the hive for cleansing flights on the occasional warm winter day. It also serves to vent moisture laden air out of the hive without creating an excessively drafty condition. Moisture in the hive during winter is a silent killer of bees especially if you don't use hive top insulation which is highly recommended.
You can put the sugar on the inner cover if they are all the way to the top. We do this from time to time. It's not as available to them though especially if it's going to be really cold. There is no worry in disturbing them if they aren't all the way to the inner cover yet. I like having the sugar right over the cluster so they can eat their way up through it. If we're at the point where we have to emergency feed to keep them alive, I'm more concerned that they be able to readily get at the sugar.
Most of our hives that get early sugar stimulation are used for purposes other than honey production. They are cell builders and mating nucs in our queen rearing operation or they are broken down into nucleus colonies for sale.
The sugar syrup will be in the BROOD Nest which is the bees...but their gonna eat it anyways, and you will be buying Honey that comes outta the Honey Super, not the Broodnest so you'll be getting Real Honey.Ps..dont believe everything you hear,alot of people teaching or commenting are only passing on false information learned by some other person who heard it, instead of spending thousands of hours in the bees and learning the truth so they don't spread false info with a false info, hateful know it all spin on it usually
Thankyou for demonstrating the Mountain Camp method. For those of you implying that he is feeding sugar because he robbed the bees of all their honey, a large cluster like this, or a cluster enduring a hard winter (especially if they had a poor honey flow in the summer) will eat all their honey and need more food to make it through Jan/Feb when they are rearing lots of new bees for the spring. This is emergency rations!
Last year I lost my first hive due to moisture (I'm in Oregon. No shortage of rain!). This year I'm using a Vivaldi board with cedar chips to soak up the respiration, and being very aware of moisture. This method seems seem really practical. As soon as my bee eat up the fondant I made, I'm going to try this. Thanks a million. (Always learning something!)
I know NOTHING about bees except that they sting but have been watching these feeding videos out of curiosity and have to say I really like that you are giving them sugar - I've seen gooey "pollen substitutes" and wheat flour and Lord knows what else but if I were a bee I'd want SUGAR - one guy said he did it cuz sugar was too expensive - can you imagine me feeding my dogs rice because dog food was to expensive? if you can't feed 'em don't have 'em
We have been using this method on and off for years. It's not always necessary to do but it's a relatively cheap insurance policy and it does absorb a lot of moisture. It's mid March and I just looked in on this hive. The sugar was completely gone and there was very little paper left. In 8 years of using this method, I've never lost a hive due to starvation.
This is not a replacement for leaving honey on in the fall. It's just a preventative measure and a good one at that.
These hives are on a working farm with a wonderful Maremma sheep dog "Anakin" who looks after our hives.
soon as I crack the inner cover on bees in the winter they go so upset and immediately get aggressive
I noticed the notch in the top cover was down during the summer it go's up correct? and with dry sugar they don't get any water or do they need water to survive in the winter, I'm new to bee keeping and live in NH so we can get hard winters also, bought my first nuc memorial day weekend caught a swarm 3 weeks later just took 7 frames from swarm box to split it and hoped I didn't get queen and just checked it yesterday they had 10 queen cells started 2 capped so I'm thinking about splitting that hive to split to queens
How many years have you been using this method? What kind of success rate do you have by doing this?
Noticed that you have a nice fence to protect your hives from bears ..... but your fence it too close to your hives and any bear can just reach in and knock over the hives and get to the brood - need about 3-4 feet from fence to hives
Hey, good eye Seth!
In fact that is exactly what happened later that season. He didn't make much of a mess thank goodness. The bees weren't thrilled about it but I just stacked them back up on the stand and they were fine. A good lesson though.
Hi and thanks for posting the video. I do have a question though about how much to feed them. Putting in the amount you did on the video, will that be enough for the rest of the winter or do you have to go in there and add more once a month, every other week? It's the beginning of March 2014 now and I've put in some sugar two weekends in a row (not this past weekend though -- way too cold) and I'm worried they'll run out before it's warm enough to check the hives again. Thanks in advance.
It really depends on the hive. I have seen them make it on 5 pounds and some take 10 or 15. I only feed like this until it's warm enough for them to take down syrup.
If it's a question of them running out of food vs being warm enough to check, I would open 'em up and feed them. It's a minor disturbance to them especially when it's cold. They are not as active and if you work quickly and methodically, you won't have any trouble.
That's very much for the follow up. I did take a peek this past weekend and they still had food so I'm good 'til this coming weekend when I'll add more. Thanks again.
In the winter of the best nutrition candy
Condensation from the humidity in the hive causes sugar to become damp. The bees each the wet sugar.
Do you give your bees any pollen patties during the winter months? I hear some some no and other yes. I want to know whats best.
In our region of upstate NY it's not uncommon to experience extended periods of very cold (non-flying) days. For this reason we do not advocate feeding bees protein or other indigestibles where the bees will be forced to hold metabolic waste in their midgut for prolonged periods of time without a cleansing flight. It can lead to dysentery or exacerbate an otherwise mild Nosema infection.
@@jorikphillips8131 I cannot thank you enough. This makes SO MUCH SENSE to me and I heard it loud and clear. Now I am certain what to do, and very grateful for learning this lesson. Thanks Jorik. Happy New Year to you and your bees.
Do you have to feed them this sugar due to taking all the honey that they had made?
Great !!!! now in the spring , you'll have a bunch of hyper active bees due to the sugar .
which date was in this day ?
New Bee Tom here- Noticed your inner cover has a small notch mid way. Is this for access or venting? Does your cover seal the notch? The older man I got my bee start from could not stress enough the need for Bee patties to feed. He said the extra aditives they incorporate helps ensure the health of the bees, As he has not treated his bees with the onslot of treatments everyone is pushing. He has had no problems by just giving the patties method.
Hi Tom, the notch in the inner cover provides an upper entrance for the bees. 2 or 3 feet of snow is not uncommon in our area and the notch allows the bees to exit the hive for cleansing flights on the occasional warm winter day. It also serves to vent moisture laden air out of the hive without creating an excessively drafty condition. Moisture in the hive during winter is a silent killer of bees especially if you don't use hive top insulation which is highly recommended.
For better ventilation and a top entrance.
Wondering why you can't just place the sugar on the inner cover? It would be less disturbing for the hive.
You can put the sugar on the inner cover if they are all the way to the top. We do this from time to time. It's not as available to them though especially if it's going to be really cold. There is no worry in disturbing them if they aren't all the way to the inner cover yet. I like having the sugar right over the cluster so they can eat their way up through it. If we're at the point where we have to emergency feed to keep them alive, I'm more concerned that they be able to readily get at the sugar.
Good method..and when the weather get warm u will use syrup sugar..tell me how u will extract the honey with out syrup sugar..
Most of our hives that get early sugar stimulation are used for purposes other than honey production. They are cell builders and mating nucs in our queen rearing operation or they are broken down into nucleus colonies for sale.
Jorik Phillips thank u very much..
The sugar syrup will be in the BROOD Nest which is the bees...but their gonna eat it anyways, and you will be buying Honey that comes outta the Honey Super, not the Broodnest so you'll be getting Real Honey.Ps..dont believe everything you hear,alot of people teaching or commenting are only passing on false information learned by some other person who heard it, instead of spending thousands of hours in the bees and learning the truth so they don't spread false info with a false info, hateful know it all spin on it usually
but you add more empty space for them to heat...
Won't the bees need to go outside to get water to dissolve the sugar?
Metabolic moisture from the bees condenses inside the hive during winter and provides all the water needed for the bees to rehydrate the dry sugar.
Thanks
Keith TheBeeMan