I was just thinking about this very topic yesterday. Thank you for the link.

Edna

I'm going to get a few iceland poppies this weekend for the bee's. I try your sugar mix also.

I was checking my Mason bee house today. Looks like the larvae are all safe, dry and cozy.

I kept bees for many years. My grandfather was a master bee keeper and county bee inspector in San Diego county for many, many years (I learned much from him).

On still, sunny days, even in the cold of winter, worker bees will come out of their hives to clean the bee poop out of their hive and seek a source of water. They also seek out a plentiful source of cellulose - twigs. They will gnaw on the thin bark skin of tender twigs (like willows), and with it they create their honeycombs.

There is no need to add honey to the sugar water. In fact, to do so you could possibly introduce diseases from infected hive(s). Sugar water in bowls works fine for winter and spring feedings.

To feed them, use a saucer or shallow bowl that won't break when it freezes, pour in about 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar water and set it out in a sunny location where they can easily find it, like on top of a table or tree stump. I generally set my bowls on the ground near their hives, but if you just have "visiting bees", any open, sunny space in your garden will suffice.

NOTE: Once you start doing this, you must continue to do so or they will starve. Soon they will learn that you are the beekeeper in your yard and buzz around you in a friendly way. I call them my "Fuzzy buddies".

Honeybees often will gorge themselves on the sweet sugar water and even in their drinking water. When this happens, they cannot swim and so cannot get out of the water and drowned. To remedy this, put a little floating stick in the syrup water for them climb on in case they fall into the sugar water. Or lay a stick down one side of the bowl where they can grab hold of it and crawl out to safety.
(It also helps to put little sticks in each of your birdbaths and in the dog's outside water bucket in the summer to prevent the visiting honeybees from drowning.

Thoroughly clean their bowls daily or every other day, depending on the weather. Refill with fresh syrup.

Again, do not start doing this unless you can commit to doing it all winter and spring as they will starve, having learned to depend on you to feed and water them.

~ Annie

Annie, do you have hives?

Edna

Edna,

I no longer do, but had 6 hives with supers on all of them at my other country home. I harvested 750 lbs of honey the first year! I caught two wild swarms of German bees the second year, all by myself in April (my first time). That was an exhilarating experience!

One year while I was out smoking the hives so I could remove the caps and harvest some honey comb, my daughter walked right in front of the box just as I lifted the lid to the super. About 30,000 bees came out right in her face. They got tangled in her long, loose hair, were in her mouth (because she was screaming) and up in her nose. They stung her eyes, her ears and everywhere else they could. Of course she was swatting at them and more came to help in the attack. She received stings on over 85% of her body. (She had been told repeatedly not to come out there when I was robbing the hives, and she knew better than to come up there in shorts with her hair not tied up in a do-rag or hat - she was 16). She ran screaming into the house with bees attached to her lips, tangled in her hair and inside her clothes. I ran after her and took her into the bathroom and put her immediately into the shower. I thought I would never get them all off of her. There were bees all over in the house too.

I discovered after that one very traumatizing experience that my daughter had developed a deadly allergy to the stings of not only bees, but ants too. (She had had a similar experience with fire ants age age 2). I nearly lost her! So I had to find homes for my bees. Parting was such sweet sorrow. ;)

Now at age 33, she is apparently no longer allergic, thank God.

There is a beekeeper who lives about two miles from me and his bees frequent my gardens. I am happy to bid them welcome.

~ Annie

Annie, you are one amazing woman ... a true pioneer woman. Your a modern day version of Tasha Tudor.

Edna

Very interesting and informative thread. Never knew about feeding bees.

Here's my dumb questions!!! I am very concerned about the south soffits.....I pulled them down, but the local hives are very large.. what to do with your invasion next.

If the bees are in your soffits, they could also be in your attic!

Call your local farm cooperative or some group like that and see if they know of someone in your area who can come remove them without harming them, like a Master beekeeper or the area bee inspector (every country has them). They may know someone or direct you to someone who knows or can do it.

I also don't know if they charge, but you can find out.
I have never had this to do, so don't know who to call, but I have heard of people who do.

The queen MUST be removed with the swarm or they will only fly right back up into the hive colony with their queen. If the workers are killed, but not the inner colony and the queen, she will either find a new mate and start rebuilding the colony, or the colony will starve to death.

So, whoever does it needs to be someone who is a Master beekeeper or is VERY knowledgeable about honeybee colonies.

Word of warning about bees and hives in winter: they DO NOT LIKE wind and are very grumpy when it is COLD - like me they don't like winter, so don't try to remove them by yourself unless you know what you are doing, especially in winter! A typical small hive will have tens of thousands of bees. If they have a large place to establish their colony, like a hollow tree or log or even inside your attic, and have been there a long time, their numbers can easily double or triple that. It is only when they have become overcrowded that they swarm in early spring and split the hive.

I heard a story of honeybees living in the attic of someone's house. The owners were somehow unaware of their presence until the weight of the honey caused their ceiling to cave in. What a sweet surprise!

In some cases, the only thing to do is call an exterminator, but I would only do that as a last resort.

Hope this answers your question.

Bees are probably the most fascinating animal on earth. Did you know that on hot, sunny days when the inside temperature of the hive rises to a specific temperature, there are special bees in the colony whose job it is to come out and cling to the outside of the beehive (box) and fan their wings to cool the hive. As bizarre as this may sound, it is true. There are many, many other intriguing things to learn about honeybees and the bee colony.

~ Annie

... and they can dance. They perform a dance on their return to the hive, known as waggle dance, indicating that food is further away, while the round dance is a short version of the waggle dance, indicating that food is nearby.