VTBeeHannah · Vermont, US · Beginners · Aug 18, 2026
Switching to 2:1 for fall feeding in Vermont — when do you start and how much per hive?
Second year, two hives in double deeps in Vermont. Supers came off last week and both hives feel lighter than I'd like — one especially, maybe 60% of what its sister weighs when I heft the back.
Plan is to switch from thinking about it to actually feeding 2:1 syrup. Questions for the northern folks: when do you start? Some club members say wait til September so you don't trigger more brood rearing, others say start the moment supers are off. And how do you know when to stop — is there a target weight? I've seen '80 to 90 lbs of stores' thrown around for the north but I don't have a scale, just my back and a luggage strap.
Also, 2:1 is by weight not volume, right? 10 lbs sugar to 5 lbs water? Want to get this right, last winter scared me even though they both made it.
#fall-feeding#2-1-syrup#winter-prep#second-year
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4 replies
QuebecBees · Aug 18, 2026
Quebec here, similar timeline to you. Yes, 2:1 by weight (by volume it's close enough that I don't stress). I start as soon as supers are off and mite treatment allows — the real deadline is the other end: bees need warm days to dehydrate and cap that syrup, and once nights are consistently near freezing they stop taking it. I want feeding DONE by early October. A colony will take a gallon in 2-3 days from a rapid feeder if the weather's decent, and each gallon of 2:1 becomes roughly 7 lbs of capped stores. So a light hive needing 30 lbs is only 4-5 gallons. Start now on your light one.
SkaneBees · Aug 18, 2026
For a European data point: in southern Sweden the standard is 15-16 kg of sugar per production colony, fed fast through September, finished by early October. Fast and heavy beats slow trickle — a trickle imitates a flow and stimulates brood, a flood gets stored. Your luggage-strap heft is fine, compare the two hives against each other and against how they feel when you can barely tip them.
BethsBees · Aug 18, 2026
Also 2nd year, Ontario, same boat. Practical question for the vets in here — rapid/round feeder vs inverted pail? My pail dripped in a cold snap last fall and set off robbing. Was that bad luck or are pails just riskier?
VTBeeHannah · Aug 19, 2026
This is exactly what I needed, thanks. Mixed up 20 lbs of sugar last night and the light hive took the first half gallon overnight. BethsBees — following your feeder question, I've got a pail on one and a rapid on the other so I guess I'm running the experiment.