Fall feeding of sugar water has become an essential practice among beekeepers due to insufficient spring food stores and poor foraging conditions in autumn preventing colonies from stockpiling enough resources for winter survival.
An ideal sugar/water ratio should be 1:1. You can measure this ratio using cups or weight; either method works.
Contents
1. Make it yourself
One popular way of feeding bees is through creating a 2:1 sugar syrup, made up of granulated sugar dissolved in water that mimics the plant nectar that honey bees collect as their food source.
You have two options for applying syrup directly into the hive or placing it in a feeder: put directly onto a screened bottom board if you plan to put directly into the hive; or you could use an upside down container with holes, such as a frame feeder, plastic pail feeder or similar container with holes.
As soon as winter has truly set in, feeding syrup to bees should stop. Doing so could actually exacerbate their problems by forcing them to produce brood when they should instead be saving energy for winter storage.
2. Use granulated sugar
Sugar water is produced by dissolving white granulated sugar into water. Like plant nectar, honey bees have an affinity for collecting it as part of their foraging habits. Some beekeepers add nutritional supplements to give their syrup added nutritional value (2).
Example: Some farmers use pollen to provide their bees with protein-rich diets that will ensure they remain robust during winter and lessen supplemental feeding requirements.
Be mindful that once bees stop feeding on the feeder, remove it to prevent moisture build-up inside the hive and ensure proper ventilation in winter months. Furthermore, no honey super should be attached while leaving a feeder in place.
3. Heat it up
In the fall, it is essential to prepare syrup that dries more quickly so as not to cause moisture issues within the hive and encourage bees to start drawing out comb and building their Winter stores. Any syrup not sufficiently boiled down could result in bees using up their Winter reserves before having time to store it for winter use.
To heat sugar water, simply place a pot on your stove and boil it. Once heated, pour it into an appropriate container that will feed bees during fall and winter – typically a glass jar with several small holes drilled in its lid.
4. Add water
While not recommended as a long-term solution, sugar water may provide temporary support to help your bees through winter if they require it – for instance if too much honey was taken in summer and not enough left behind to ensure survival over the next six months.
Sugar to water ratios will depend on the season: spring syrup should typically use 1:1 (one part sugar to one part water). Conversely, fall syrup requires thicker mixture containing two parts sugar to one part water.
When creating sugar syrup, heat it just short of boiling before taking steps to cool. After this stage is completed, continue stirring to prevent crystallization, while also giving enough time for cooling before use.
5. Add supplements
Beekeepers have access to several supplements for aiding beekeeping activities, including cane or isomerized corn syrup. Many beekeepers utilize these solutions when installing packages of bees or to keep bees fed in very cold temperatures.
OMAFRA recommends feeding beekeepers a mixture consisting of 15 pounds of sugar dissolved in one gallon of water; this corresponds to a 2:1 (water:sugar) by volume ratio. Some beekeepers opt for alternative combinations as needed.
Some beekeepers also add pollen or protein supplements to their feeding syrup in the fall if they’re installing new colonies or trying to establish them more successfully in spring, as this provides their bees with vitellogenin and other storage proteins they might otherwise miss during winter forage collection.