In the last few years I have read of emergency feeding of colonies with wet sugar bags. I would be interested to read the comments of members who use or have tried this technique. This is how I have read of it working. Granulated sugar for domestic consumption comes in 1 kilo paper bags. One of these bags is laid on its front in a shallow dish of water. The paper side and the sugar in contact absorbs the water. The sugar clumps into a solid mass. Above the mass is the remaining granulated sugar. A couple of starter holes are made in the wetted side of the bag and this side down it goes onto the hive. The bag is positioned over the open feeder/clearer hole in the inner cover/crown board. The bees chew away the paper and feed on the clumped sugar. As the sugar is removed, the heat and moisture from the cluster causes higher layers of sugar to clump. I am attracted to this idea. Spring in my area is variable, so I want the colony to survive yet not be stimulated to excessive breeding by over-feeding. At a late Winter/early Spring visit to my apiary I could prepare, on site, a sugar bag for a light hive. Over to you.
Just put the bag of sugar on the top bars and put an empty super around it. The bee's respiration will dampen the bag and the sugar and they will eat thru the paper and then the sugar.
Sounds like you have found an easy way of doing sugar feeding. Another method I have read about is the "MountainCamp" method. BjornBee has a few tips on winter feeding as well. He provided a link I found. http://pennapic.org/feedingsugar.html I began feeding fondant as an insurance policy because of his site. Fondant takes more work but I have had good results. http://www.bjornapiaries.com/feedingoptions.html
Perry, you do know you are supposed to send MountainCamp a royalty every time you use that method and every time you tell someone else how to use it, dontcha? You can get around it though if you just call it The Dry Sugar Method. lol
You may have a point there Mark. :lol: You know, I have often wondered aloud at some of the stuff most beekeeps are willing to share when they could probably patent something and make big $$ on it. I am just putting the finishing touches on a bee-vac based almost completely on Robo's design. Same thing for D Coates's design for four 5 frame nucs out of one sheet of plywood. Same with Iddee's stuff on trap-outs (caused me to give it my first try). Grateful I am! :mrgreen:
Being in Canada, you can just go ahead and build something identical, slightly change the name, and sell the heck out of it w/out any repercussions, right?
Good idea Mark. My first invention would look almost exactly like a stethoscope, but given that I would use it for checking hives, I would patent it as a "Perryoscope" (with thanks to Slowmodem for the name idea) :mrgreen: :lol:
Well, I'm interested in the op's idea. I think you could carry a few bags in the truck and have them ready when needed. Barbarian, give it a try and let us know what happened. I think Perry may add your name to the 3 above next year.
I agree with Iddee, Barbarian, let us know how this works out. It sounds too easy to work, but that may only be because nobody thought of or tried it before. :thumbsup: :mrgreen:
Let's njot christen it the Barbarian Method now. I heard of it and did it years ago, when I ran out of newspaper. I prefer other methods of feeding sugar. Ones that work better. Not that this doesn't work.
That sounds like the easiest way to me. I poured mine on newspaper, but this seems like even less work.
perry writes: Another method I have read about is the "MountainCamp" method. tecumseh: oddly enough I 'may' have been the pilgrim that gave this idea it's name. as fate would have it shortly after reading mountaincamp (I seem to recall he was from up in the Catskills Mountain in NY) full description of the process he then seem to have vanished from the forum (<full name withheld here to protect the innocent and the guilty) I was frequenting at that time. having fed a bit of dry sugar before I just thought the idea had merit (not that I shall ever need to do this myself).
It is pretty easy, but I prefer the newspaper spreading sugar across method. The paper and sugar act as an innercover of sorts and the suage is always above the bees, unless they eat thru what is above them.
I do this sometimes, when I don't have a miller feeder on the hive... if I do have a miller feeder on it, I just pour dry granulated sugar in the feeder... I don't worry too much about them having direct contact with it because our winters frequently have warm days when the bees can break the cluster to get food or take cleansing flights.
