Feeding can provide an essential supplement to natural resources available outside the hive, helping a new package colony quickly establish itself or providing relief in late summer or autumn until fall bloom provides sufficient honey stores.
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Pollen Patties
Pollen patties should be provided when the colony is building its numbers ahead of the nectar flow to help ensure there will be enough pollen available and prevent the colony from having to cannibalize itself to get by without pollen.
Pollen patties are composed of sugar, pollen, vitamins, lemon juice or citric acid, dried egg, oil and yeast that is designed to stimulate brood production and attract small hive beetles if they become an issue in your area. They may also help protect from predatory mites when SHB infestation becomes an issue.
To create a pollen patty, combine all the ingredients and shape them into a large flat patty using wax paper for easy handling and storage until needed. It should then be placed directly over the brood nest on top bars inside of a hive where bees will consume it as necessary, lasting only a few days until another is required.
Granulated Sugar
Beekeepers commonly feed their bees granulated sugar when needed – whether this be due to installing new packages in a hive, or giving an existing colony an extra boost during winter months.
Bees do not consume granulated sugar by itself; rather they prefer syrup made up of both. Honey bees are used to collecting nectar and sugar from plants for food sources; dissolving granulated sugar into water mimics this process effectively. Many beekeepers employ 1:1 ratio of white cane sugar to water when feeding their bees granulated white cane sugar into water in feeders.
White sugar should always be preferred over brown or raw sugars as these can lead to dysentery in bees. Some beekeepers combine their white sugar with small amounts of water in order to create fondant, which they place atop their hive during winter and allow the warm moisture of metabolic water from within their cluster to gradually dissipate it.
Honey
Honey is an ideal food source for bees. Packed full of essential nutrients, honey provides essential nutrition during difficult times for their survival. But be wary; honey may contain American Foulbrood disease spores which could infiltrate and infest your colony, potentially resulting in further problems for their wellbeing.
So it is best to feed your bees honey from your own hives whenever possible and any additional sugar should come from a properly aged and not heated syrup.
Sugar syrup can be made from white table sugar in a ratio of two parts sugar to one part water. You should heat this mixture just enough to dissolve any crystals that remain, then transfer to an uncapped frame feeder for easy transporting or pour into any jar you like. It may also be wise to include mold inhibitors.
Water
Supplemental feeding may not replace natural foraging entirely, but it can still provide significant advantages in certain situations. When collecting a new swarm, some beekeepers will feed it sugar syrup until two frames of drawn comb have formed to give their colonies an early start in producing honey before the main honey flow begins.
Some beekeepers feed their new packages or nucs before winter dearth begins, using thicker syrup that promotes bee hydration while simulating an organic source of nectar.
Beekeepers generally employ a 1:1 sugar water mixture (water and sugar). Others may use 2:1 syrup instead, for better food storage in the hive. Granulated table sugar does not provide the essential micronutrients bees need. Most beekeeping-supply companies provide sugar mixes designed specifically to feed bees.
