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Feeding my bees

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Gypsi 
#1 ·
A new beek here, getting my Nuks first week of May, got everything almost ready, my question is , Should I feed 1:1 or 2:1 and can or should I use Essential Oils?
 
#4 ·
NO NO NO....LOL...forget all that crap...your bees will get the food they need, best you can do is feed the sugar water to them as soon as you get your nuc for a few months then let them gather pollen, and in the winter you can make a fondant to give a little extra to the bees, but the use of any essential oils to strengthen the bees is just nonsense..you will find plenty of gimmicks that dont work, its the same for any other hobby or subject...
 
#6 ·
I use 2 frame feeders and each holds about a gallon of sugar water I check them once a week and they usually are close to empty and I refill them, I have been feeding them sugar water for the last few weeks and will continue through spring..then enough flowers are blooming to let them forage on their own..
 
#7 ·
[Should I feed 1:1 or 2:1 and can or should I use Essential Oils?]

Walter Kelley said it best: "Feed them 1:1 as soon as you install them and keep feeding until they have all frames drawn out. To stop feeding them is foolhardy and risks losing your investment."

As for 'essential oils'.......forget it.
 
#8 ·
I concur with Sour Kraut and Bob. I tried adding Honey B Healthy to my syrup on my first hive and it attracted every hive robber for miles. Lost my hive, it wasn't strong enough. I also agree on using an internal feeder, whether a frame feeder, a jar over the inner cover with a box and outer over the jar, or some other in hive feeder. Reduces attracting trouble.
 
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