feeding bees.

[Greengage]

Why do you have to fed bees 1;1 or 1;2 syrup what difference does it make, Nectars collected by bees would have different amounts of water some are diluted by dew others can be affected by humidity or rain.
I gave up on the mixing ratios and just add water sometimes it is a bit syrupy other times a bit runny either ways no problems to the bees taking it down. Who wrote these rules. Is it a bit like the mother and boiling the ham in two pots because she didn't have one large enough to take a full ham.

[Jambo]

I don't want to hijack the thread but if I could expand with more related questions - I have seen many people claiming that it is too late to get bees to draw comb at this time of year, yet I am sure Murray says Autumn is his main time of year for getting brood comb drawn. Is the claim that it is impossible an old wives' tale, or is there a trick? Is it feeding related?

My understanding based on what I have read (and it seems logical) is that 1:1 is more likely to stimulate laying and comb building and little if any water needs to be fetched to consume it; whereas 2:1 gives the bees less work to do in removing moisture if the intention is to build up stores, especially in the autumn when the air is cold and moist.

Also is it possible to overfeed? Some claim the queen can run out of space to lay due to filling the box with honey but I'd be surprised if bees are that daft.

[Poly Hive]

My understanding is that the stronger syrup saves the bees work.

When I was commercial like Murray I stripped the brood boxes as a lot of honey was in there. Instance. Ten frame Langstroth. Three pollen combs were left in. 7 combs out for extracting replaced by two or three foundation and the rest wet extracted combs. We had a lot of comb BTW. Then a rapid top feeder which took 4 of 5 gallons of 2:1 syrup and that lot would pretty much be taken down inside 24 hours. A week later and the foundation would be drawn and laid up with sometimes others laid up too. A lovely flush of new bees for the winter.

Bees can indeed be over fed and yes they can be that daft. If in doubt take a couple of stores frames out from the middle as less likely to be pollen and insert foundation. Leave some feed on and I suspect you will have a nice surprise.

PH

[Adam]

Honey or syrup has to be reduced to below 20% water content before it is capped, so the thicker the mix the better for winter storage. 1:1 is the 'ideal' ratio for bees to consume there and then so ideal for comb building etc. (That's what the modules tell us). However I am none too worried about the concentration, as the OP says, bees take it anyway so it's thickish or thinish for me. Randy Oliver did a study on Scientific Beekeeping:- http://scientificbeekeeping.com/light-or-heavy-syrup-for-drawing-foundation/

Yes you can overfeed so the queen doesn't have enough space.

[Greengage]

tks for the link interesting reading.

[The Drone Ranger]

https://honeybeesuite.com/the-conditions-necessary-for-comb-building/