Quote Originally Posted by realist View Post
Do you feed your bees? This was the first time I had heard they needed to be fed.
i did for a while, then i got hit hard by 'robber bees' little bastards. i ended up losing one colony (moved away/killed off) but i did manage to save the smaller of the two. i relocated it over to my buddy's place. so i have a good start on one and we are going to split from his to make up my other three. but, to answer you question... yes, we feed them through the winter. simple syrup, 2 parts sugar to 1 part water by volume. ie... 2 lbs sugar to 1 lbs water. it doesn't matter how much, just that it's in that ratio. hope that made/makes sense?

edited to add... not really necessary here too feed them, it's just a supplement what they have for honey stores and a vehicle to add nutrients and meds. i personally don't add much if anything to it, i prefer the 'natural way'. now that being said, if and only IF i hear of other beeks having real problems with their colonies, i will treat. but again, i prefer to let nature deal with it as intended.