When feeding sugar syrup to bees, there are some key points you need to keep in mind. The ratio of water to sugar varies depending on the season and should always be monitored closely.
Mix sugar with hot but not boiling water until all of the crystals have dissipated. Avoid boiling this solution as this could cause it to caramelise and become indigestible.
Contents
How to Make it
As honey reserves in your hive decrease, feeding it with sugar syrup becomes necessary. Preparation is straightforward – simply combine equal parts white sugar and water in accordance with weight requirements.
Experienced beekeepers typically feed bee colonies one part sugar to two parts water in order to supplement honey stores, stimulate brood rearing and promote foundation drawing in springtime. The purpose of such feedings can vary, depending on its purpose: replenish honey stores; encourage rearing brood production; or create drawing comb foundation.
Beekeepers use special feeders attached to the ceiling of their hives for this purpose. Multi-hull hives offer greater convenience in this regard; otherwise, regular plastic containers with holes or empty honeycombs may suffice. Medicinal and stimulating additives may be added to the syrup for additional stimulation or treatment purposes, and rafts may even be attached so as to avoid drowning of bees who fall into it without time to escape before drowning occurs.
Feeding Schedule
Feed your bees syrup with a low moisture content for optimal bee health, since high moisture levels encourage moldy conditions that could prove deadly for their bees if consumed (2). Likewise, sugar water with too much moisture content can ferment and cause dysentery among bees.
Some beekeepers prefer thinner syrups like spring sugar for use during fall harvest, while others may opt for denser doses with 2 parts sugar to 1 part water (known as 2:1) ratio to build winter stores in autumn when honey production typically dwindles (3).
Frame or top feeders are the optimal feeders for autumn feedings as they offer greater protection from robbing while making it simpler to monitor how much syrup is being consumed (4). Should any instances of robbing arise, make sure that spilled syrup is dilute or cleaned up promptly by wiping away with water while continuing feeding as usual (4).
Temperature
Sugar syrup should always be kept at room temperature to reduce mold growth, make feeding your colony simpler, and reduce moisture build up that could otherwise lead to dysentery in your hive.
An optimal ratio between sugar and water should be 1:1, but any variation beyond this point is also acceptable as bees will know when there is too much or too little. They will adjust accordingly.
A frame feeder (8) is an upside down tin or mason jar feeder used to feed bees during fall and winter. Featuring a mesh bottom to prevent drowning, it should be placed directly atop of any hive to prevent robbers from accessing it directly. However, these feeders also allow robbers to drown while bees will need to navigate their way through syrup to reach their entrance hive; any bee that does not perform its waggle dance correctly could become lost and eventually drowning!
Storage
Sugar syrup should be stored away from the hive to avoid being stolen by robbers as soon as it has been made, whether by placing a shallow super on top of the hive to provide space for bees or by using a frame feeder, which is a container the size of a full-depth Langstroth frame that sits inside of a hive to provide bee access to its contents; these feeders require bee space under their lids, often using floating material that ensures enough sugar water remains for bee consumption before running out faster than their bees can consume it all before running out.
Some beekeepers leave enough honey on their colonies at harvest time to last through fall and winter, but this can become problematic if there is an unexpected nectar dearth and insufficient stores are built up. As such, many beekeepers provide supplement feedings using sugar syrup, fondant or bee candy with additional bee-healthy additives like essential oils or Honey-B-Healthy which stimulate the bees while simultaneously retarding mold growth and controlling Nosema.
