First off I’ll make it known that only if I have to feed for the hive to survive (bad nectar flow or something like that), but otherwise I like how @Michael_Bush put it on his site (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm) and will try to avoid feeding all together.
- That will be 3 Foundationless frames (then I figure I’ll put the Inner and Flow Hive Roof on it until they fill them)
- OK
- I’ll look for a feeding solution that will work for me (in case I need it, though as I said above I plan to not use feeding if I can). Since I have similar temps to Micheal I’ll read up on what he has found to work.
- Yep I’m going for (2) Mediums after the Deep that comes. You remember my planned build well
Yeah depending on how this year goes (wet winter this past year, so hopefully well) I know I may not get to enjoy anything or even the Flow Frames until 2017, but I’m in it for the long haul. Yeah it can start getting cold at night anywhere form August to October and it just varies a LOT out here so I’ll keep that in mind as I’m looking to add the Medium boxes and let them expand up.
No “real” bee supplier as Murdoch’s and Boomgars are the only 2 I’ve found selling stuff and they really don’t know what they have. I’ve got a local beekeeper I need to go catch up with at the local farmers market (I need another 5 gallons of honey anyways) so I plan to chat with him then and I hope he is open to letting me learn from him.
You always need a plan in case you need to feed. The lowest I saw in Mitchell, NE was -40 F and that was every night for a month and a half. The lowest I’ve ever seen here is -27 and that was for about a week at the most. That is quite a bit different, actually, but we are both in a climate with severe winters. USDA puts you in zone 4b and me in 5b. I agree with the difference, but they seem to be based more on a typical winter than a “worst” winter as they list me as “-15 to -10” and you as “-25 to -20”. But I’ve seen it -27 F here and -40 F there…
Spent time fully reading your site about feeding and had a note wondering if you could use the baggie feeder idea ontop of the Inner vs Frames if you use the pitched top that comes with the Flow Frame kit?
I plan to do more research online this week. I certainly want to have a plan!
And I’m the hills where I am it is usually colder than if I lived in closer to the river.
If you are not using the inner cover to make your only entrance, you could just leave it out and put the baggie on top of the top bars. This is the preferred location as the cluster will keep it warm and bees will find it better in marginal weather. Just make sure they don’t build comb up there. If they are building comb, you probably don’t need to be feeding anyway.
I had planned to use the Inner for an Entrance (time will tell), so the issue here is the baggies will be far away from the Frames to stay warm? I had wondered if enough heat would rise through the hole in the Inner to heat the space enough. Of course time will tell, but maybe when it comes to feeding I can look towards switching to a bottom entrance with a mouse guard and feed ontop like this.
Just wanting to have some plans and be ready for when it is needed.
I looked at some of the newer in Hive frame feeders with ladders and landings and they look good, but still worry about using up the frame space if they happen to have it all built. They are cheap so I could just have both on hand…
The importance of keeping it warm varies greatly with the ambient temperature outside…
Well all installed and did an inspection Friday 13day after installing a 5 frame NUC. so I had 3 foundationless frames in my box. Friday when inspecting, all 3 foundationless frames were all most all built out 
so proud of them and how well they are working. it will not be long before adding the second brood box, I am guessing.
Also, I am amazed how docile they are, when opening up the high box it doesn’t even seem like they are moving around they are very calm
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