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Feeding bee colonies with different types of nutrition and concentrations according to different circumstances.

   Bees rely on their own efforts for food. Worker bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers to produce honey and bee bread, which they use to feed the brood, workers, and drones.

   Additionally, worker bees secrete royal jelly to nourish the young brood. In times when food sources in the fields become scarce, or the colony's food reserves are depleted, beekeepers provide their colonies with sugar syrups as a substitute for nectar and pollen substitutes to prevent starvation or cold-related mortality and to encourage the queen to lay eggs.

Feeding Times for Bee Colonies

    It is recommended to feed the colony before its reserve stock of honey and bee bread runs out at any time. However, there are specific periods when feeding becomes essential, such as:
  1. In the spring, before the start of the active season (honey flow season), to accelerate the rearing of new brood.
  2. During periods of nectar scarcity, which occur between the blooming of one crop and another.
  3. If external conditions are unfavorable for bee activity.

Types of Feeding Provided to Bee Colonies

There are four types of feeding, each with its specific timing, need, and importance. Each type will be discussed in detail in the rest of the post:
  1. Feeding with honeycomb.
  2. Feeding with candy.
  3. Feeding with various sugar syrups.
  4. Protein feeding (pollen or pollen substitutes).

How to Prepare Sugar Syrup for Feeding Bees

  1. Prepare the appropriate amount of sugar and water, and slightly heat the water.
  2. Add the sugar to the hot water and stir until it completely dissolves, leaving no visible granules in the solution.
  3. Lower the heat under the sugar syrup and continue stirring until it emits a light burnt sugar aroma.
  4. Once this aroma appears, turn off the heat and let it cool in a closed room.
  5. After the sugar syrup reaches room temperature, it can be given to the bee colonies.


    How to Distribute Feeders to Bee Hives

  1. Distribute feeders to the colonies before sunset to prevent robbing behavior among bee colonies. Place each feeder in the appropriate location, ensuring to leave a bee space underneath if placed on top of the frames.
  2. Feed all the colonies in the apiary on the same day.
  3. Ensure the hives are securely closed.
  4. Remove the feeders early the next morning and wash them with hot water to prevent the sugar syrup from fermenting or spoiling.

How to Feed Bee Colonies in Different Seasons

   A) Winter: A colony consumes around 50-60 pounds of honey during the winter. The strength of the colony depends on the amount of food left in it during this season to protect the bees from cold and to reduce the effort required by the workers to generate the energy needed to maintain the colony's temperature. Feeding during this season is as follows:

  1. Honeycombs: The best food for bees. Five honeycombs are left in each hive.
  2. Candy: Made by saturating honey with fine sugar through heating and continuous stirring until it forms a non-sticky paste, which is left to cool. It can also be made using a concentrated sugar syrup (66% fine sugar from cane or beet sugar).
  3. Concentrated sugar syrup (2 sugar: 1 water by volume), provided it is used no later than November, using rapid feeders.

B) Spring: It is essential to provide a large amount of food in early spring to raise forager worker bees at the right time for blooming. Feeding is done using diluted sugar syrups (1 water: 1 sugar) in close intervals and small quantities, utilizing rapid feeders.

C) Summer: Weak colonies, nucleus hives, or colonies that experienced swarming are fed with diluted sugar syrups (1 sugar: 1 water) or very diluted syrups (1 sugar: 2 water) using slow feeders.

D) Autumn: If colonies have enough honey reserves to safely pass the upcoming winter, feeding is limited to the same approach used in summer. However, if reserves are insufficient, colonies are fed as in winter using one of the two methods (1 or 3), provided the colonies are placed in a well-shaded area. This precaution prevents the candy paste from melting over the bees or drying out completely due to the high temperatures during this season.
 :: Note :: 

   Each colony should be provided with the appropriate amount of pollen stored by the beekeeper from the previous season or with one of the pollen substitutes. It is preferable that the substitutes are natural and easy for the bees to digest. This type of feeding should be provided continuously as long as the colonies need it (i.e., when the pollen quantity in each hive is insufficient). If the pollen quantity is adequate, additional feeding is unnecessary.



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