Guilfordbeekeepers.org

I am a new beek and I am looking at buying my first hive. The hive in one deep with 8 frames of bees and they are working on 9 and 10. My question is what to do to get them through the winter? can they make it. How to feed, pollen patties and other problems that would be faced with a hive that small this time of the year. Thanks for your help.

There should be enough pollen coming in between now and winter, but sugar water should be given until the second box is close to full.

PS. add the second box now, then keep a eye out for SHB and don't let them get too plentiful. Keep the hive in full sun.

You are a new beek.
Have you been to bee classes, will the person you are buying the hive from be a mentor? Where are you located, in North Carolina? Near Greensboro?

they are working on 9 and 10
The general rule is when bees have drawn out or cover 70-80 % of the frames its time to add another hive body.

What to do to get them through winter?
Make sure they have plenty of food stores – The amount may vary depending on where you live.

Can they make it?
Yes.

How to feed.
There are various ways to feed from entrance feeders (not recommended) to hive top feeders (my favorite) to frame feeders.
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If you give them space another hive body as Wally has written, drawn comb or foundation, feed them so they will draw out the foundation and store food at the same time being careful not to let them fill the brood chamber with food stores you should be fine. You want the brood chamber to remain open of food stores for the most part there will be pollen or nectar around the edges but the center 70-80% of the frame should be open for the queen to lay eggs in.

There is so much more information, others may add additional information.
But feel free to ask more questions.

I live in stokesdale just north of greensboro. I have not had any classes yet, just reading on the internet. I was wondering about also feeding pollen patties or some of the stuff that brushy mountain sells like mega bee vita feed energ bee. How do you keep the brood chanber open and not full of honey.

Welcome to the forum, its good to know where folks live as timing can be different in different pats of the USA. We have or had a few folks from different states on the forum.

You are wondering about feeding pollen patties. That is a very open question.
Here is some general information. I am sure other folks can add a lot more information.

Should you feed pollen substitute?
You can get different answers from different beekeepers I have found that they can build up very quickly in the spring when being fed pollen substitute. But, If there is natural pollen available the bees may not touch the pollen substitute.

What kind of pollen sub to feed?
There are many types available with different proteins and additives. I can’t say which is best but a few of us have been mixing our own with the help of Wally supplying some of the ingredients.

How to feed?
You can feed it dry or as a patty. I have fed dry pollen substitute in a tray or bucket out for all the bees to consume and have fed patties that lay on top of the frames above the brood chamber.
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You can google “feeding pollen substitutes” and find a lot of information. Some folks that have a few hundred hives have their own recipes and mix it up in a cement mixer.

How do you keep the brood chamber open and not full of honey.
One way is to move frames that have been filled with nectar to other parts of the hive and replace them with new frames.

Again this is general information that can be added to and expanded upon with many opinions from different beekeepers.

Firebee,
If you go to the home page(link below) you will find links to other forums on the right hand side of the page. You can do searches and read pages and pages of posts of questions you haven't thought of yet. I learned a lot reading old posts when I started. Just wanted to let you know there are other forums out there that have a wealth of information. You are also more then welcome to continue to ask questions here and I or other folks will be happy to answer with the best of our opinions.
You may have already heard this:
Ask 10 beekeepers a question and get a dozen different answers.
LOL Most of the dozen answers may be correct, so be prepared to read a lot and see what makes sense to you and may work for you. I know more then one forum has had multiple threads on "what is the best book for beginners"
Ski

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