Some questions about feeding

Hi Tom, that sounds like a good guide, however you still need to asses in your own mind whether feeding is necessary at all, based on your own observations over a few seasons, coupled with an increased knowledge of bee culture.

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Thanks ABB!
Here’s the citric acid reference and some general information for feeding that @bonun might find helpful.

Not so thankful for the Krebs cycle info, but I concur and will save it for a sleepless night :sleeping:

I just went down and tested the weight of both hives, it wasn’t very heavy when I lifted the corner on the biggest hive. Now I’m not a certain if they have enough.

Again I haven’t lifted the hives before so I don’t know what’s a good feel.

What should I do now in this situation?

UPDATE:
I tried lifting it at different angles since I wasn’t satisfied, it actually does feel more heavy, more like a decently full deep. So it might not be as bad as thought above

You probably could do a quick inspection an a warm day, so you get an idea of what’s inside the hive & how it feels when you heft it. I think a good idea would be to replace the crown board with a hive mat. That way you can lift the roof off, before lifting the corners up so you can look down to see if there is still capped honey around the brood, without lifting any frames.

Hefting can have some drawbacks because it depends on where the front of the hive is sitting, whether you get an accurate idea of the weight, based on where the fulcrum, if any is. I guess with a Flow2 on legs, there will be no fulcrum.

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I have my fingers crossed for next weekend, no rain for once!

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Bee feeding ref added above (forgot it before :roll_eyes:)

The lowest tent-sleeping temp I’ve had was 17F. Easier than the waking up and going outside part :joy:

How did those bees do? Some time ago we had a forum member from Finland, who provided his hives with a heated mat underneath.

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I did it twice. On one occasion I used a custom-made sleepping bag stuffed with camel wool. The thing looked more like two mattresses stitched together. The experience was very similar to yours. The one before that was a bit different. I had never been getting up and out with such enthusiasm in my life as on that occasion. I was sleepping in a bag bought in a sports goods shop and rated for -40F. After two or three hours of sleep, I woke up because something was wrong. I touched my socks that were wet after walking on snow and found them frozen carboard-solid. My initial thought was I would be lucky to lose toes only. All I lost was trust in labels. Not even minor frostbite. I don’t know how.

The idea of heating hives has never crossed my mind. There was plenty of free snow around. Just shovel it on top of the hive and they will be alright. Though, hive walls were significantly thicker than what they sell these days. They were made of stolen crate boards in which artificial kidney arrived at the local hospital. Was enough to make four 12-frame Dadants with supers. How much has packaging changed in the last 40 years… :slight_smile:

Now THAT’s another level of MacGuyvering :joy:
Well done - waste not, want not!

Maybe you should have used one of those crates for sleeping in :rofl:

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Sleeping in, or slipping in? Both are very graphic descriptions! Sorry @ABB - I love your posts, honestly. I just can’t resist teasing a smart guy from time to time! Just ask my husband… :blush:

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One day, one day :slight_smile:

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Ok, ok. Corrected. Just a sl… lapsus linguae :rofl:

Nah, I wish I was :slight_smile:

It is all good. In the end, the main reason we are here is to amuse ourselves and occasionally others :slight_smile:

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