Honey is an intangible product created by bees from flower nectar. To produce just one teaspoon of honey takes many bees their entire lives!
Feeding should only ever be used as a last resort and only under certain conditions. Utilizing a feeder is an efficient and straightforward way of providing additional resources when necessary for your colony.
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Spring
At this time of year, it can be extremely challenging for new packages or hives to acquire enough food to survive, due to long cold periods during spring when nectar sources may not be readily available.
Feeding sugar syrup during spring can provide some nutrition, but not much more than that. A better approach would be to use a feeder that places it close or adjacent to each cluster – there are various gadgets for this purpose, but make sure that either its hole (the diameter of a common frame nail is an effective reference point) and/or lid aren’t too big otherwise bees will escape and disrupt their colony.
One popular feeding technique during spring is called the Baggie Feeder, which employs a gallon zip lock bag filled with syrup that has been cut open on one side to serve as the feeder. When laid atop a hive, an accessory such as an upside-down miller feeder may be necessary to accommodate it.
Summer
Weather-dependent, it may be difficult for your beehives to build enough honey stores for winter. To supplement their natural nectar flow or pollen patties, in summer you can supplement them with sugar syrup feedings or pollen patties.
A 1:1 or 2:1 mix of sugar water should be used when creating syrup for colonies to meet their specific needs, either to encourage brood building and draw out comb, or store food for fall and winter storage needs. When selecting pure cane sugar as the source for making your syrup to prevent contamination with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which can cause dysentery as well as toxic caramel-colored “bakers honey.”
Pre-made pollen patties containing protein, vitamins, lemon juice or citric acid, dried egg, oil and yeast are another popular feeding option available from most bee supply shops and some home improvement centers. These patties can be placed either directly on top of hives or placed into an in-hive feeder and provide an ideal way to help new colonies get started or strengthen weak ones.
Fall
Hives require different care throughout the year depending on local conditions. In fall, colonies focus on building winter stores for winter. This may prove challenging in cases where nectar supplies have decreased or it’s too cold to forage regularly.
OMAFRA recommends providing each colony with 15 L (4 gallons) of supplemental sugar syrup in the fall at a ratio of 2:1 (two parts sugar to one part water), so honey bees can easily consume it.
Some beekeepers feed their colonies by placing syrup in an external feeder near the hive, though this approach often leads to robbing and attracts pests like yellow jackets and wasps. If you choose this approach, reduce hive entrances and select a feeder with closure mechanisms – many beekeepers use Jay Smith’s bottom board feeder as an ideal example – which simply requires sliding wood blocks forward of the back of the hive before being covered with plywood sheets and secured.
Winter
Idealistically, bee colonies would enter winter armed with enough honey-rich comb to see them through. Unfortunately, however, many colonies require assistance during these frigid months to survive and thrive.
As temperatures cool down and air becomes thinner, your bees will no longer consume it and so your sugar syrup must change into honey-like ratios instead.
Winter feed should ideally come in the form of candy boards or fondant (see Betterbee’s recipe page), which can be placed directly above the cluster in your hive.
Alternately, some beekeepers opt to provide pollen patties as protein supplements during winter months. This approach may work, provided bees do not consume too many patties at one time and exhaust their natural protein stores before Spring pollen flows arrive.