Further follow up - happy bees!
PhoenixWench
it in the same feeder they had been using for hummer nectar. It had been
a couple days since I had filled it (hubby health issues kept me too
busy to think about the bees), but shortly after I rehung it the first
bee found it. She seemed a bit confused at first, but rapidly determined
that this new stuff was GOOD! ;-)
Inside of an hour the whole swarm had returned. Some seemed weak, and
other bees were taking the nectar and feeding them. I felt so bad for
leaving them to go hungry - it won't happen again. I have helpers now,
who know where the stuff is stored and willingly wade into the swarm to
refill the feeders when they go empty.
Now, several days later, they are back to full strength, and very
demanding - they can go through 2 quarts a day easily! I just made up
another big batch to save on time, and store it in old (cleaned) wine
bottles for ease of pouring, since I don't have the 'normal' bee feeding
mason jar lids recommended by the site. It's a good thing I had stocked
up on sugar at Sam's Club - looks like I could be going through a fair
bit before the weather gets too cold for them!
I just hope it hasn't all been too little too late, and that they have
time to set themselves up good for the winter.
--
PhoenixWench
Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance but the counterfeit of it.
Both are despotisms: the one assumes to itself the right of withholding
liberty of conscience, the other of granting it.
-- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man
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