Feeding Honey

[ski]

After the great time at Wally's extracting the honey, the extractor was cleaned up and there was some honey maybe 3 eights to half an inch deep in the plastic bucket left over from the buckets and the extractor. I thought I would be swarmed with bees in few minutes with this open bucket. BUT NO, the bucket has been setting out open in my back yard for 3-4 hours now and not one bee. They are 150-200 feet from the hives. I think I got the dumb bees. I am cautious about getting it too close to the hives and setting off a feeding frenzy and robbing, but would like to bring it to their attention.
I thought about putting it in a pan with some hardware cloth in it for the non swimmers and inching it closer to the hives a few feet at a time until they discover it then back it off. Any thoughts would be welcome.
Ski

[Kurt Bower]

Scatter some pine straw over the honey otherwise you will lose a bunch of bees.
Just leave it and they will find it. Dumb maybe but they will find it.

Kurt

[Wally]

My guess is, you left it in the sun and the plastic got too hot. Check it now that the sun has went down and tell us what is happening. Then move it to where it will be shaded tomorrow.

[ski]

The first 3 hours were in the shade then I did move it into the sun. Have not noticed any activity since the sun has gone down.
Plan for tomorrow.. .. I will pour some into a pan, put some pine straw on top and ensure it will be shaded. I may try and put it in a maple tree about 150 feet away from the hives. I will use small amounts in the pan to start and see how it goes.

Thank you for your replies.

[Ron Young]

That is wierd!! I can go outside with a soda or glass of tea and the bees are quick to find it and begin foraging it, not an great numbers, just one or two, but still they are there!

[Locust&Honey]

They didn't hit my bucket UNTIL I turned them over on their side. They don't like to go down into things. Plus there is nowhere to land. They sound pretty smart to me.

[ski]

Late last night I put some honey in a plastic tray with pine straw and put in a tree about 100 feet from the hive. As of noon time today no bees found the honey. So I took a small stick got some honey on it and went over to the hive and when there were about 10-12 bees on the stick I walked over to the tray with the honey and put the stick in the tray. Every body is now happy.