To feed or not to feed...

I'm on a mailing list for a beekeeping club here in Colorado and the hot topic in the last week has been late winter or early spring feeding. There's a bit of a joke that if you ask two beekeepers a question, you'll get three answers, and spring feeding fits that well.

Beekeepers get worried this time of year as they dread that their bees didn't store enough honey to make it through the winter. It's an easy worry to fall into and I have felt it a bit. I know in my head that our two hives were loaded with honey going into the late fall, but in my gut I get a little "oogie" thinking things like "What if they didn't store enough?" and "What if they can't get to all of it?" (this last scenario seems a bit too common: a beekeeper opens the hive in the spring and see a bunch of dead worker bees with their heads buried in cells as they tried to get the last dollop of honey as they starved, yet a full frame of honey hangs nearby). John and I have invested a good bit of time and money into the girls and the last thing we want to do is open up a hive and find them dead. So, it's easy to feel a bit worried.

Three camps of thought appeared on whether a beekeeper should feed their bees this time of year:

• Never do it
• Always do it
• Do it if necessary

Before I go on, let me explain a bit about feeding bees. Feeding can involve something as simple as sprinkling table sugar on the top of the frames the bees cluster on or making sugar patties out of Crisco, sugar, essential oils, and a protien supplement or anything in between. Again, ask two beekeepers, get three answers on what you should feed your bees.

The Nevers usually get to that point by believing two things. First, the cost in time and money seemed to outweigh benefit. If a beekeeper has just a few hives, this may not be such a big deal. But for those that have a dozen or more, mixing up sugar patties or even sugar syrup (table sugar melted into hot water) can be a hassle. Plenty of products can be found to do the same thing, but that means cash outflow. The second reason they stopped feeding their bees, if they started, is to just let the bees be. They know how to take care of themselves and the ones that survive tend to be strong bees and produce more strong bees and just accept the losses as they come.

The Always...well, I'm not entirely sure why they always feed the bees this time of year. Habit and concern, I would imagine, primarily feed their desire to make sure their bees are all fed up. Humans are habitual by nature and beekeepers are no exception. If the beekeeper has always engaged in feeding in the past, why change the habit? The concern factor is easy to peg, too. I was quite relieved yesterday when John texted me that both of the hives were alive and well. Last week when I checked on them, I heard a good healthy buzz coming from the Sicilians, but couldn't hear anything from the First Italians (placing my ear directly against the hive gave me a nice bit aural access to the hive - next time I'm bringing a stethoscope).

Judging by John's and my philosophy about the bees, we probably fall in the third category: Never-leaning Sometimers. It seems that sometimes it will be necessary to give the bees a hand up to help them get to the nectar flow. I don't want to lose a hive just because they can't quite make it to the first bloom--too much money and time have been put into our girls to lose them to a fickle fall or an overly warm winter. But, I don't want them to get dependent on that first kick of sugar, either. To put it in political terms, entitlement programs are necessary, but a nanny state is unwanted in our realm. We'll keep an eye on our girls and do what we can to make sure they stay strong and healthy.

As spring approaches, John and I look heartily forward to interacting with the bees. We plan on splitting both hives and I want to pick up a package or two and collect at least one swarm. In the meantime, it's research and construction season!