Bees need food during the winter months. Fortunately, feeding bees can be relatively cheap, easy, and mess-free. Despite the fact that winter feeding isn’t an ideal time to add supplements, plain granulated sugar is an inexpensive option. Block the inner cover hole with a piece of newspaper or a paper towel and pour the sugar directly into the hive. Bees will chew on the paper, consuming the sugar.
Pollen patties
If you don’t want to spend money on beekeepers’ kits or purchase a hive that doesn’t produce honey, consider giving your bees pollen patties instead. Using pollen patties to feed your bees will help them produce more brood. Bees need pollen to produce eggs and larvae, and it is best to feed your bees only after the pollen has flowed.
To make pollen patties, mix together sugar, lemon juice, and citric acid. Add dried egg, oil, and honey, if desired. You can freeze them in individual patties or wrap them in wax paper. The pollen patties can be used all year long and after the honey harvest is completed. If you are having trouble preparing your own pollen patties, you can buy pollen substitutes and make them yourself.
One of the advantages of pollen patties is that they can be made in advance. You can prepare them ahead of time, but the process will take time. In addition to pollen patties, you can also use supplemental dry sugar. Sugar can be in the form of candy board, fondant, or sugar bricks. You can also pour granulated sugar onto tissue paper or newspaper. Pollen patties also act as bee food for winter.
Sugar syrup
Bees need a more substantial energy source during the winter months. White sugar mixed with hot water is a good option for winter feeding. The key to making sugar syrup for bees is to avoid boiling the mixture, as boiling changes the chemical composition of sugar and makes it indigestible to bees. Adding essential oils like spearmint, lemongrass, or spearmint oil will also keep mites at bay. Bees can also recognize a syrup flavored with spearmint by smelling its aroma.
The temperature should be 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower to use sugar syrup for bees. Start feeding hives with this syrup when the bees are not actively collecting pollen and nectar. Don’t rely on sugar water feeders to survive the winter. If you see fuzzy legs and no activity, remove the sugar water feeders. The syrup may collect moisture in the hive, ferment, and contaminate your honey.
To prepare sugar syrup for bees, you can use an open container or a division board feeder. Place the syrup feeder 100 yards away from the hive to avoid disruption of the setup. The height of the syrup feeder can vary from four to ten feet, depending on the size of the container. Bees can’t access a container too closely, so make sure the syrup container is above the frames. If you don’t want to disturb the bees, you can use a floatation device and essential oils to prevent mold.
Fondant
As temperatures start to drop, you can provide your bees with sugar syrup or fondant to help them get through the long, cold winter. Sugar syrups can be a great way to supplement their diet in the winter, but they are also difficult for bees to digest. Instead, you can provide them with a sugar-based food that they can place over their feeder hole to consume. This way, they can feed without worrying about the temperature affecting them.
When using fondant for your bees, be sure to label it clearly and store it in a zip-lock bag. Bees will only take it if they need it, so make sure that your bees can find it! You can freeze extra fondant for future use and slice it into thin patties when needed. Although these are not the most reliable sources of bee food for the winter, they are effective in combating mites and other pests.
While feeding bees syrup is not recommended in late fall and winter, fondant can be the perfect solution for colonies that have run out of stores. You can place a plastic bag or upside-down bowl over the fondant to prevent it from accumulating in the hive. Besides, fondant is easier to handle than syrup and will not cause bees to rob you of your bees.
