A note on food stores

Generally, you should not have to worry about colonies running out of food in the spring if you left them with sufficient honey in the fall. In our part of the northeast, a colony in two deeps in early October, with bottom board and inner cover, should weigh 135 pounds (70 pounds of honey) with 50-60 pounds of honey in the upper hive body and 10-20 pounds in the bottom hive body. We feed 1 gallon of 2:1 sugar syrup (2 parts granulated sugar to 1 part water, by weight) in the fall for every 9 pounds below the target weight. Of course, you can add one full comb of capped honey for each 5-6 pounds below the target weight. A late or wet spring will place an extra demand on food stores and may necessitate feeding.