LESSON 49: FEEDING BEES

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Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, a family beekeeping operation of my wife and family, David & Sheri Burns. In today's lesson, I want to teach on feeding bees especially during late winter and early spring. Before I do, let me share a few personal thoughts with you. Our family spent last weekend in Chicago along with our oldest daughter and son-n-law and our granddaughter. My oldest son held down hive production while we were away. Our family works hard, and these occasional get-aways keep us going.

I was on TV again promoting beekeeping. You can watch the three and a half minute video by clicking here.

My wife and I have a passion for promoting beekeeping. We love it, enjoy it, and find it the perfect match for a family business. As we spend so much time teaching beekeeping classes, posting lessons online and talking to prospective beekeepers one on one, we realize that not everyone will make their beekeeping purchase from us. Even though most people who take advantage of all our free information do purchase equipment and bees from us, we also realize that some people will learn all they can from us but purchase their equipment and bees from some place else. But let me just say that when you do purchase from us you are supporting our efforts to promote beekeeping. Your support gives us the ability to continue to offer our FREE online beekeeping lessons and conduct our endless experiments and sustain our small business in these tough economical times. We appreciate your loyal support and business!

Support from our satisfied customers is what we count on! So thank you for recommending Long Lane Honey Bee Farms to your friends and among your bee clubs.

BUY YOUR BEES FROM US NOW!! DON'T WAIT! AND BE SURE TO GET YOUR HIVE EQUIPMENT, PACKAGE BEES AND NUCS FROM US SOON TOO!! You can call us Monday - Thurs from 8am- 5pm Central Time; fri 9-12pm. If you reach our answering machine, it means we are on the other line or that we stepped out. Leave you name and phone number and we'll return your call.

We are selling lots of 5-frame nucs this year, and can still take lots more orders. These nucs will have the queens that we raise from here in Illinois. Local pick up only, though. $49

LESSON 48: FEEDING BEES

This is the time of the year when bees start running out of stored honey if they haven't already. To help them not die from starvation, it's important to feed your bees. If your bees die with their heads stuck in cells, they starved. Knock out the dead bees and try again! If the haven't died yet, there are many ways to feed your bees during late winter and early spring. All feeding methods have some pros anc cons so these are my experiences and opinions.

For those of us in the mid to northern part of the US we need to check our bees to be sure they still have stored honey they can live on until flowers start to produce nectar. Here in Illinois, we have a long way to go, probably 4-5 more weeks.

Pollen patties are a good source of protein for the bees. These can be purchased or can be made up from a dry powder mix. Also, if the bees are short on honey an easy solution is to feed them 1:1 sugar water. I do this by placing a zip-loc sandwhich bag of sugar water on the top frames just above the cluster. I poke a few holes on the top side of the bag and the bees figure out how to draw out the sugar water. Another method is to use a jar normally used on the entrance feeder. Place it on top of the inner cover just above the cluster over the oval shaped hole. Then place an empty deep hive body to surround the jar and then place the top cover on this deep hive body. Place a heavy rock or block on top to hold everything tight.

I can open a hive for just a few minutes if the temperture is 40 or above and little to no wind. But I never remove a frame for inspection until the temperature reaches 60.

Fondant is a good winter and early spring feeding method for bees. Here is a recipe a fellow beekeeper gave me: 5 cups of water, 15 pounds of sugar, 3 cups of Karo light corn syrup. Bring water to a boil and put in sugar. When all the sugar is dissolved add corn syrup and bring temp up to a soft boil or 252 degrees (F). Then pour into aluminum pie pans. When set, put fondant on a sheet of wax paper above bees. Cut slits in wax paper so bees can get at the feed.

Other recipes can be found at: www.perfect-wedding-day.com/fondant-recipe-2.htm

Some top feeders may work well as the temperature continues to warm up. But feed your bees!

I'll be speaking at the Cook-DuPage Beekeeping Association in the Chicago area on March 21. I always welcome speaking engagements. It is always a blast talking to groups about honey bees!

That's all for now! Until next time remember to Bee-Have yourselves!

David & Sheri Burns