Knowing that another severe cold spell is on the way I went out to 4 Russian hives that I want to survive. I had put 10 lb sugar boards on them in early January. I had 4 spare sugar boards and went out to install them today; knowing it is only going to get colder. I tilted up the old sugar board a few inches and rapped on the top several times. This dislodged the bees clinging to the board and they dropped back into the cluster. Then in about 2 seconds I switched to a new sugar board. Only lost about 20 bees total from the 4 hives.
The remaining sugar on the old boards was primarily above where I had placed a feed patty in January. The patty appears to prevent the cluster from moving under the bees working the sugar. The working bees will not move from the cluster and hence won't work above the patty.
From the look of the 4 boards the bees ate 6 to 8 pounds of sugar from mid-January to late February; plus whatever they are get from the hive comb. . At least they are still alive!
6 of 9 (66%) Russian hives still going. 5 of 13 (38%) package or Buckfast hives still going. Feeding all hives except for the top bar hive which I could not think of a good feeding method.
Next year I think all hives will be set up with a 15 lb sugar board.
RECIPE: add 3 cups water to 10 lbs of sugar. A little less water may work better, but more water is too soupy. I poured this mixture directly into the sugar board and baked it at 250F for several hours. Makes a mess in the oven if the edges are not sealed. An alternate method is to heat it on the stove with a candy thermometer until the mixture reaches 250F and then pour directly into the sugar board.
I've lost two hives since putting on the sugar boards and 8 prior to adding them. 3/4 of our cold weather was after adding the sugar boards.
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