Feeding native bees may not be ideal, but sometimes unavoidable. When bee colonies move to new homes or their reserves become depleted due to extreme weather events, extra assistance may be needed to replenish them with honey reserves.
Sugar water solutions made up of 1:1 ratio of granulated sugar to water should do the trick. You can measure this mixture either by cups or weight – either will work fine.
Contents
Nectar
Native bees’ natural diet includes nectar from flowers, which consists of sucrose, fructose and some protein as well as salt and water – providing energy needed for flight and foraging.
Our native bee species have co-evolved with our native plants to become highly effective pollinators. Depending on their species, they collect nectar or pollen from different families of flowering plants – helping those plants reproduce successfully.
Megachilidae bees prefer deeper flowers with longer florets that can be easily reached with their long tongues, so when visiting these flowers to collect nectar they also transfer pollen between male reproductive structures of flowers to female plant structures in the process of nectar gathering.
Pollination is the process by which plants produce seeds for reproduction.
Pollen
Betterbee offers winter patties containing extra pollen that you can open and place directly onto the top bars of your hive in cold climates where natural flower bloom is scarce, helping prevent bees from starving.
Solitary native bees ranging from sweat bees less than a quarter of an inch long to bumble bees over an inch long use their proboscisses to siphon nectar from flowers, then store the sugar water in their crop (a collection of carbohydrates, proteins and salt).
Solitary bees also collect pollen by mixing it with floral oil produced by flowers, for instance ground-nesting bees of Lysimachia (loosestrife) utilize glands on their petals and pollen collecting scopae to gather oil and pollen to feed their young sisters in cells and seal off their nests with waterproof coatings; unlike social honey bees, most native bees tend to be solitary creatures that make and provision their own nest.
Honey
Native bees typically produce honey only in small hives and only enough to feed their young. Solitary bees that burrow into the ground or nest in holes in trees do not produce honey at all.
Before offering honey or sugar syrup to bees, always double check that they’re not building comb inside your feeder itself. If they are, try providing another box that includes frames for them to draw out into (such as an internal feeder with screens for them to draw into) or discontinue feeding altogether.
Healthy bee colonies in warmer areas often can survive winter without needing outside help, provided that they have stored enough pollen and nectar supplies to get through it on their own. But in colder regions or periods of extreme weather, this may not be possible, in which case feeding sugar water to their colony may help avoid starvation during this period. For best results when feeding throughout winter use a 1:1 ratio between sugar and water and only offer it until they start drawing out their stores on their own.
Water
Honeybees rely on water for many reasons: to help regulate their body temperature, build nests with it and dilute their food sources such as honey. Furthermore, they transport it back to their hive in order to facilitate evaporation-cooling processes.
Foraging bees tend to travel within two miles of their nesting sites, making nearby water sources appealing to foraging bees. To attract bees to watering stations, some beekeepers add just a teaspoon or so of chlorine solution or ground oyster shells into the bucket of water, giving it an alluring ocean scent which bees can detect.
Puddles, ponds, brooks, irrigation systems, bird baths and even hose bibbs attract bees, as do plant secretions and guttation drops. If your watering station surface is smooth, ensure that there are pebbles or sticks available to provide traction for bees to cling onto; mulch should also be avoided around flowers that attract bees as this could act as a deterrent and stop foraging efforts.
