Honey in its comb is the optimal food source for colony survival. To do so, place it near your cluster on a warm day without disrupting their cluster structure.
New packages and nucs don’t typically provide many resources, so supplemental feeding may be necessary. One simple sugar syrup solution would work.
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Sugar
Sugar is one of the top carb sources to feed bees, since it is pure and exactly what bees eat, leaving no residuals behind in their stomachs. Plus, unlike some sources like honeycombs that ferment in cold weather conditions and make digestion harder for bees than desired, white granulated table sugar provides a superior feeding option.
If your colony does not have sufficient food stores (honey) to survive during a dearth, or you’ve installed a package or nuc into an empty hive and no comb has formed, sugar syrup could be the answer!
Sugar should be mixed with water in a 1:1 ratio, using cups or weights as measures. Use only pure cane sugar – beet sugar contains an ingredient called oxaloacetate that may lead to nosema in honeybees; use Turbinado/Demerara instead if possible since some contain small amounts of molasses which could harm them instead.
Honey
Bees generally prefer natural sources of nutrition over sugary products like fondant. Therefore, whenever possible it’s best to limit feedings and offer honey instead; alternatively fondant is designed specifically for emergency winter-feedings.
Homemakers can create this boost at home by mixing equal parts of white granulated sugar and water (by weight or volume), then heating to form a dense syrup. This feed should only be given when an existing colony needs immediate support due to low honey stores or is experiencing honey deficiency.
Feeding colonies during nectar dearths in Fall is most frequently necessary, since resources may have depleted. Feeding also ensures they have the resources they need for dearths or winter. New colonies such as packages of bees or captured swarms with limited honey stores get off on a strong start and ensure sufficient reserves to see them through any nectar dearths or winter.
Bee Pollen
Honey bees rely heavily on nectar (which eventually turns to honey) and pollen for sustenance, with carbohydrates from nectar providing energy while pollen provides protein for brood production. A balanced diet with both forms is necessary in order for bees to remain healthy.
Bees use a “pollen basket” on one of their outer hind legs to collect pollen and then pack it into pollen pellets to store in their hive. Pollen contains numerous proteins, vitamins and minerals as well as being an excellent source of fatty acids, enzymes and antioxidants.
Beekeepers frequently utilize pollen patties in the summer. It is essential to remember that bees require multiple sources of nutrition – native flowers and forage crops among them – in order to thrive, so over reliance on one source could rob bees of important vitamins. A frame feeder or top feeder may help minimize use of these pollen-packed patties when bees produce large brood amounts and require extra protein boosts.
Liquid Feeders
Offering bee colonies an extra boost by feeding them 1:1 sugar water can be the simplest and most straightforward way to assist their health during Winter or an abrupt decrease in nectar availability.
Open feeding may attract other pests like ants, wasps and hornets; to prevent this use a baggie feeder instead; this essentially consists of plastic freezer bags you partially fill with syrup before placing inside of your hive under its cover and partially submerge in water to form an airtight seal allowing bees access through delicately slitting its surface.
An alternative option is using an inverted pale, which enables bees to access syrup through a mesh-covered hole. These devices can either be DIY-ed or purchased at local bee supply stores; either way, any extra feeding should only serve as a supplement and not replace natural nectar sources.
