Once you have your bees installed, either from packages or nucs, you will most likely need to feed them — a lot. Even existing hives can require extra feeding at this time of year. If the bees are going to need to draw comb, they will definitely need a lot of food. It takes anywhere from 6-8 times (research varies) of nectar to make wax than it does to make honey, so it’s not surprising to see a growing package of bees go through 2 gallons of sugar syrup in a few days.

In the spring, you can feed them a light syrup of 2 parts water to 1 part sugar.

The beginning of this video by NC State University Apiculture Science department does a good job of discussing feeding bees in the spring.