Pollen feeding during winter months may be required by commercial beekeepers with contracts to harvest honey in February; hobby beekeepers usually only require this service if their colonies are weak or the weather becomes too cold to forage properly.
Making fondant patties to feed bee pollen during winter months is one of the most effective strategies for providing their colonies with enough pollen to survive, and should ideally be placed directly over each cluster, just below its inner cover.
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Pollen Patties
Winter pollen patties can be made easily at home by mixing equal parts sugar syrup and powdered pollen into perforated paper for bees to access directly without disrupting or damaging their hive.
Pollen patties provide protein sources when your bees cannot forage due to weather or other circumstances, such as limited pollen stores in storage or limited flower sources nearby, or when their queen has stopped laying eggs altogether. Pattys provide essential sustenance in these instances and can prevent starvation or collapse of colonies.
Winter patties contain mostly carbohydrates with minimal protein to delay brood production by the queen and should be fed during December (or just before temperatures drop below freezing), before switching over to spring-time patties which contain higher concentrations of protein for increased brood production and to help larger colonies preparing to swarm in spring.
Dry Pollen Powder
beekeepers often supplement bee colonies during periods of forage dearth with carb-rich sugar syrup mixtures or protein-rich patties or pollen substitute. Alternatively, dry pollen replacement could also be fed.
Bees store up both carbohydrates for energy use and protein for brood rearing in order to survive winter conditions, when their forage supply becomes scarcer than usual. Once Spring arrives with abundant forage available again, they will consume their stored reserves to boost their population numbers once again.
As there are commercial feeders available for purchase or you can create your own simple one from an old barrel or plastic juice jug, feeding bulk dry pollen sub is ideal when you only have a few hives as it allows bees easy access without worrying about other animals eating it or beetle attacks. In addition, it reduces small hive beetle attacks. This approach should work best when feeding bulk dry pollen sub.
Hard Candy
This classic hard candy recipe is simple enough for even novice candy makers to follow and succeed at! All it requires is a large dutch oven capable of holding sugar syrup and an accurate candy thermometer.
Simple sugar syrup combined with a small amount of corn syrup should be heated until it reaches the “hard crack” stage (310 degrees on a candy thermometer). You can choose any syrup you desire; light brown sugar works perfectly.
Once the sugar syrup has been taken off of the heat, you can customize its coloring and flavoring as per your desires. I personally find peppermint perfect for winter hard candy making; Perle Di Sole offers the ideal combination of tart lemon with citrus sweetness.
Fireballs make for an exciting treat and add just a bit of spice to any homemade holiday treat tray! Their bold flavor stands out among their peers while still remaining subtle enough for everyday enjoyment.
Sugar Boards
Candy boards are an easy and cost-effective solution to provide bees with nutritious winter feed without needing to leave their hive. Bees can access sugar without leaving their cluster and on milder winter days can access sugar without leaving their cluster – perfect as an intruder deterrent and to stop foragers from coming nearer the hive! They may even deter aggressive bees looking to rob!
They can be made using various recipes, but generally speaking sugar should be cooked to soft-ball stage before mixing into a thick sand-like substance. Vinegar may also be added as a mold inhibitor.
Be sure to make the mixture damp enough so bees can pack it into their frame without it becoming sopping wet – idealy the board should be filled to capacity. In addition, some beekeepers also include a pollen/protein patty as a protein source for early spring brood rearing; this recipe uses a winter blend patty that doesn’t contain as much protein, since too much in winter can spur colony expansion while further diminishing food reserves.
