It’s time to…Plan For Winter

By Steven Page

August… It's been hot and humid, and the dearth has been happening for months. Your colonies have been surviving by eating honey. All colonies must be fed as needed to prepare them for winter.The Goal. By the end of October, each colony needs a minimum of 30 pounds of honey, a queen, and a large population of workers. After October, the weather gets too cold to feed syrup. If your bees are outside of the Piedmont of Georgia, the amount of honey required will vary.Feeding Syrup. I use 1:1 syrup all year. A gallon of 1:1 syrup weighs 10 pounds, almost as much as a gallon of honey. There are reports of 2:1 syrup crystalizing in the comb. I use essential oils in my syrup mainly to prevent mold growth. I use Pro-Health, but Honey-B-Healthy is another essential oils product. I mix the essential oils at much less than the recommended ratio; I use 1 Fl OZ per 5 gallons of syrup. Let the syrup cool before adding essential oils. Essential oils can encourage robbing so I do NOT use essential oils when I think robbing will be a problem. For instance, during the dearth (now), when feeding small colonies in the same beeyard as large colonies. My small new colonies have only an ½ inch opening, which is easier to protect.Feeders. Do not use Boardman feeders; they are too small and promote robbing. Do use some type of hive top feeder. After trying many different feeders, I like the 1-gallonand 2-gallon inverted pail feeders offered at Betterbee.com. They work well; they offer plenty of syrup, bees don't drown, and bugs can't get to the syrup. A strong colony will consume 2 gallons of syrup in 5 days. How to use feeder pails. I invert the full pail over a 5-gallon pail, letting the pail drain until it stops, saving syrup. A Mister Clean Majic Eraserwill clean mold off the inside of the pail. Clean the propolis out of the screen with a pressure washer at less than full pressure.The goal. Start feeding in August to encourage the queen to lay. The colony will raise plenty of workers, resulting in a large population entering winter. The colony will use syrup to make honey stores for winter. At the end of October, the colony should cluster in a deep with one honey super above full of honey. A 10-frame shallow super holds about 25 pounds of honey, plus there is more honey in the deep.I prepared all my colonies for winter in October. However, even though I prepared them, some colonies will not survive winter.