Before colder weather arrives, it’s a good idea to feed bees with a 2:1 sugar/water syrup mixture. A thicker syrup encourages bees to store up food in their comb for winter storage purposes and help strengthen winter reserves.
Liquid feeding may not be recommended during winter due to its potential to dislodge clusters of bees. A better choice would be a patty with high sugar and protein content along with feeding stimulants like Dadant & Sons’ AP23 pollen substitute or Honey B Healthy, for example.
Contents
1. Capped Honey
Bees produce honey to feed their larvae and, when their production has reached a sufficient level, “cap” it with wax to protect it from moisture absorption and spoilage. Capped honey can be identified by flat, light tan or white caps with no raised lines that differentiate brood cells.
Colonies require at least 60-70 pounds of honey stored for winter survival; colonies with less will have to rob neighboring hives for sustenance.
Sugar feed can be an effective way to supplement honey supplies in late Autumn and Winter. To do this, it is crucial that the feed consists of 100% refined sucrose (table sugar) with no impurities such as molasses or brown sugar which have been proven harmful to bees.
Many beekeepers opt to utilize commercially produced winter patties. These consist of sugar and protein in the form of pollen substitute and can easily be placed inside their hives to provide extra sustenance when honey stores have run dry.
2. Dry Sugar
Honeybees rely on pollen, nectar and some sugar as food sources to feed their young and build combs to store winter food stores. If a dry summer results in dearth in some regions or an entire colony has depleted all its stored honey stores before winter hits, emergency food sources must be found quickly to get through winter safely.
Beekeepers typically feed sugar syrup to their colonies in autumn to increase honey stores and prepare them for winter, while solid sugar feeders help colonies survive through propolizing or cold snaps.
Some beekeepers believe that “inverting” refined table sugar with acid will create an artificial food more similar to honey, however this is yet to be proven. Other beekeepers simply place the sugar directly above their cluster or in a super with an attached top eke for best results.
3. Winter Patties
In winter months when stores become scarcer than usual, providing high carb food should be prioritized. A candy board, sugar brick, or wooden spacer (eke) placed above a cluster will suffice to achieve this task.
Alternative bee feeding techniques involve providing specially formulated winter patties. These provide bees with carbohydrates while offering only minimal protein levels so they do not begin rearing brood too early in spring.
Dadant developed an artificial pollen substitute known as AP23 that is claimed to closely mimic natural pollen’s nutrients while also including probiotics to aid bee health.
This product comes ready-to-use in a pail, ready for immediate use in any hive. Simply spread over the top bars or form patties out of wax paper between them. While patty mixes may last throughout a colony’s winter season, regular checks should be conducted to monitor them and replace as needed.
4. Liquid Feed
Some bee colonies can adapt well to wintering on honey, while those with limited resources require an alternative food source during periods of negative accumulation during Winter.
Sugar syrup or table sugar is often the go-to choice for beekeepers, whether in its liquid (2 parts sugar to one part water) or solid candy form such as winter patties, pollen substitutes or grease patties. It is essential that bees receive only pure sucrose and not products containing additives like brown sugar, molasses or commercial fondant containing ingredients which could contribute to bee dysentery.
No matter which method you employ to feed your colony – whether sugar syrup, winter patties or another method – be sure to periodically monitor and feed as necessary on sunny and warm days. Being proactive rather than reactive is always better in this instance.
