As the summer season winds down, beekeepers need to take measures to ensure their colonies have adequate resources to make it through the winter.
In autumn, they can use sugar syrup to supplement their stores. This is made with a mixture of two parts sugar to one part water.
Contents
Bees Need Nectar
In the fall, bees collect nectar to help keep their hives healthy. This is important because there isn’t much to forage during the winter.
Bees need nectar to get energy from the sugar in the flower to fly and pollinate plants. Plants that contain flowers that are attractive to bees include borage, calendula, zinnias, sedum, asters and witch hazel.
Many gardeners plant flowering plants that are known to be good food sources for bees in their area. These are usually native plants that have co-evolved with bees in the wild.
Some exotic or non-native plants are also good for bees, but gardeners need to be aware that some of these plants are invasive and can disrupt native ecosystems. Planting these invasive species isn’t recommended, but planting the correct natives that are good for bees is a good option.
Bees Need Protein
Bees are known for their love of nectar, but they also need protein to survive. They need protein for queen development, brood production, honey production and more.
When pollen resources are scarce, bees may require supplemental food to maintain healthy colonies, and to recover hives that have suffered losses due to resource dearth. This includes carbohydrates (such as sugar water), protein, lipid and mineral reserves.
The amount of supplemental feed provided to bees will vary according to stored resources in the colony, weather and environmental conditions. In autumn, beekeepers provide carbohydrate and protein to restore nutrient reserves that were lost during spring.
Typically, the main purpose of offering protein is to support brood feeding and production. This can be done by providing a protein supplement such as pollen patties or global pollen substitutes. These supplements help prevent brood cannibalism and dry brood – both signs that your bees are unable to properly nurture their young.
Bees Need Vitamins
If you’ve ever watched your bees, you know that they need carbohydrates (nectar and honey), proteins, lipids and vitamins for their health. They also need minerals and antioxidants to help them fight off parasites and disease.
Bees are unable to get all of these nutrients from their diet, but they can get a lot from pollen. This is why many beekeepers supplement their hives with pollen supplements in the spring to ensure that they have the nutritional supplies they need to thrive until the next year’s nectar flow arrives.
However, there are some situations where bees do not need supplements. For example, if you live in an area that does not have very much pollen, or if your bees have a long winter cluster, you may not need to feed them any extra food at this time of the year.
Bees Need Extra Food
The fall is a time when bees need extra food to survive the winter. They need enough honey stores to keep them occupied until spring.
Bees can have low honey stores for a variety of reasons. One of the most common is a nectar dearth, which occurs when blooming flowers become scarce. Another is a period of bad weather.
When a hive is low on honey, the best solution is to feed them sugar syrup. This can be made using a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water, which is more dense and easier for bees to slurp up.
Some beekeepers like to mix up a stronger syrup for autumn feeding, which can be made by heating water and stirring in sugar. The mixture should be hot enough to boil, but not so hot that the sugar turns to mush.
