bee feeding

Spring feeding of bees is of great importance not only for the beekeeper, but also for bee colonies. This is due to the fact that the strength of the bee colony during the honey collection period will depend on the quality of top dressing. Undoubtedly, bee colonies should receive good nutrition since autumn, but, as practice shows, the food supply runs out before the heat comes. That is why beekeepers should use top dressing. Everyone decides for himself what type of feeding to choose for his insects and the feeding time.

Why you need to feed the bees

With the help of spring feeding, which beekeepers give to insects before the flight, it is possible to significantly increase the productivity of the hive queen. High-quality food products allow young bees to overwinter without a case, in addition, after the winter they begin to fly over full and strong enough. As a rule, with the help of top dressing, many diseases can be prevented.

Terms and types of feeding bees

Due attention should be paid to the spring feeding of bees, since the strength of the bee colony depends on it. Spring top dressing is used by beekeepers to achieve the following goals:

• prevention and treatment of diseases;
• stabilization of fodder stocks;
• encouraging the hive queen to lay eggs.

There are several main types of feeding for insects:

• without the addition of various substances;
• with the addition of vitamins and medicines;
• supplements enriched with stimulants.

All beekeepers resort to the use of dressings. If necessary, you can cook them yourself.

Feeding methods

As practice shows, beekeepers use natural honey, sugar, sugar syrup, protein feed, soy flour, Kandy and much more as a top dressing. For example, if after the first flyby insects have diarrhea, then it is necessary to use medicines that are given to them according to the instructions. At low temperatures, it is recommended to abandon the use of liquid dressings.

How to feed bees with honey

If you plan to use honey to feed the bees, then you need to choose a quality product that will not harm the insects. In this case, you will need to remove the honeycomb frame from the hive, print it out and place it in the nest in the evening. Such honey has not only excellent taste, but also medicinal properties. As a rule, honeycomb frames are installed on the edge of the nest. Since honey undergoes crystallization, it must be printed and filled with warm water, due to which the product will become liquid.

How to feed last year’s honey to bees

In order to feed old honey to the bees, it is necessary to place the honeycomb frame behind the distribution board or place it in the upper part of the housing. Cells are recommended to be pre-printed. Using this type of insect feeding, it is important to take into account the fact of theft. Honey frames are usually taken from other hives. If the bees refuse to consume honey or eat it poorly, then it is worth replacing the honeycomb frame.

Is it possible to feed bees fermented honey

It is strictly forbidden to give fermented honey to bees. Such a product must not be boiled to achieve the required consistency or diluted with warm water. This product, in general, cannot be used as a top dressing for bees. Since in the process of boiling the temperature reaches + 95 ° C, honey undergoes caramelization. Often there are cases when, after wintering, unprinted honey can be found in the hives. It must be removed immediately and used as a top dressing only for strong bee colonies.

Are bees fed sugar?

The use of sugar as a top dressing is practiced by a large number of beekeepers throughout the country. As the experience of beekeepers shows, thanks to sugar, the development of bee colonies is stimulated, while swarming of insects in the spring is prevented. Sugar is especially widely used in Europe. Thus, during the winter season, bee colonies are fed up to 30 kg of sugar. Bees wintering on the street and receiving sugar as top dressing collect up to 1,5 kg of high quality honey in 60 months.

What kind of honey is obtained if the bees are fed with sugar

If the bees are fed with sugar, then the finished product, as a rule, turns out to be of poor quality and is quite different in taste and appearance from the natural product. Sugar honey has the following distinctive features:

• honey tastes fresh;
• the aroma is weakly expressed, does not have a certain shade, the smell resembles old honeycombs;
• if we consider the consistency, then it is cloudy, gelatinous;
• pollen is completely absent in such honey;
• high content of sugar.

The falsification of honey is determined in the laboratory.

How to tell if bees have been fed sugar

Counterfeit honey, as a rule, has rather low bactericidal properties, a small amount of active substances, and there is no therapeutic effect at all.

As a rule, such honey has a white tint, the floral aroma is completely absent, the smell is weak or absent. The taste of such a product is sweet, but at the same time cloying, there is no astringency that is inherent in a natural product.

Can bees be fed cane sugar?

Many beekeepers prepare sugar syrup as a food for insects. It is important to consider that the products used must be of high quality. Cane or beet sugar is best suited for such purposes. Refined sugar is not recommended. The use of sugar syrup is considered the easiest, most convenient, economical and popular winter feeding option.

Protein food for bees

Despite the fact that honey is the main type of food, do not forget about feeding, rich in proteins. Protein supplements allow not only to stimulate the queen of the hive to lay eggs, but also help to recover after wintering.

Quite often, yeast supplements are used, but, as practice shows, they are not able to replace high-quality protein. Insects are recommended to give:

• pollen;
• Candy;
• bee bread;
• powdered milk;
• soy flour.

It is recommended to use high quality products for the preparation of dressings.

How to make honey bees

Preparing honey satu is quite simple, there are a large number of recipes for this. Some beekeepers additionally add small pieces of bacon, dried insects, various herbs and spices. If necessary, you can use the basic recipes for feeding bees:

1. thick full. If all the honey was removed from the hive, it is recommended to take care of the food of the bee colonies. To do this, you need to dilute honey with warm water in proportions of 4: 1.
2. Average full. This mixture is given to bees for better reproduction. To prepare top dressing, you will need to take 2 liters of honey and 2 liters of boiled water, then mix until smooth.
3. Liquid full. This option is given in the case when the bees have a supply of food, but it is necessary to push the queen bee to lay eggs. For 2 liters of honey, you need to take 4 liters of boiled water.

Is it possible to feed the bees with jam

If we take into account the reviews of experienced beekeepers, it is worth noting that in some cases it is allowed to use jam to feed the bees. However, this should be done as carefully as possible. Jam is recommended to be given only during the free period, in order to save sugar. It should be borne in mind that the fecal load will be maximum.

How to feed bees with perga

Perga is considered the main and indispensable type of protein supplement for bees. In the event of a deficiency of this type of nutrition, the hive queen stops laying eggs, as a result of which the development of the bee colony slows down. To prevent this phenomenon, it is recommended to put frames with perga in the hives. If during the summer period a large amount of perga was harvested by insects, then some can be removed.

As a rule, bee bread is transferred to glass jars for storage, after shaping it into balls, after which the container is poured with honey and covered with gauze.

What to feed the bees if there is no perga

If necessary, perga can be replaced. For this, there are the following recipes:

• 1 kg of pollen is mixed with 200 g of honey and 150 ml of water, the resulting mixture is poured into frames;
• 200 g of milk powder and 1 kg of granulated sugar are diluted with 800 ml of boiled water and given in small portions to insects;
• 1 kg of chalk and 0,5 kg of bee bread are mixed with 500 ml of hot water, filtered, the mixture is allowed to settle for 48 hours.

These types of top dressings, if necessary, can replace the absence of enough bee bread.

Features of feeding bees with pollen

If necessary, bees can be given pollen as food. Pollen is collected as follows:

1. Hazel catkins are collected and dried.
2. Pollen is shaken early in the morning from the flowers, lowering them previously into a vessel prepared for storage.
3. The pollen is collected using pollen traps for these purposes.
4. They are removed from the bee-bread frames, after which they are ground to a state of dust.

Pollen must be poured into empty cells, after sprinkling with a small amount of sugar syrup.

Feeding Kandy

As you know, Kandy can be purchased at a specialized store or prepared independently, adhering to certain proportions:

1. They take honey – 26%.
2. Powdered sugar – 74%.
3. Pure boiled water – 0,18%.
4. Acetic acid – 0,02%.
5. Everything is thoroughly mixed.

After the dough is obtained, it must be divided into pieces weighing from 200 to 300 g and put on top of the frames.

Feed with added cobalt

Scientists have proven that cobalt has a beneficial effect on the health of insects. If cobalt is added to sugar syrup, it is possible to increase the number of offspring by 19%. To prepare this type of feeding for bees, you will need to take 1 liter of sugar syrup, add 8 mg of cobalt to it and mix thoroughly until the drug is completely dissolved. Such food must be given to bee colonies in a warm form.

Feeding with healing infusions

With the help of therapeutic top dressing, many diseases can be prevented. If insects develop foulbrood, then you will need to prepare the following healing infusion:

1. You need 1 liter of sugar syrup.
2. Also take: 2 g of sulfantrol, 2 g of sulcid, 900 thousand units of penicillin, 1 g of norsulfazole sodium, 400 thousand units of neomycin, 500 thousand units of biomycin.
3. Pour a small amount of warm water into a container.
4. Dissolve all ingredients in it.
5. After that, the preparations, diluted with water, are slowly introduced into the sugar syrup and thoroughly stirred until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

For varroatosis you will need:

1. 1 liter of sugar syrup.
2. 2,5 ml dill oil.
3. Mix thoroughly.

If necessary, you can feed the bees in the summer.

Can medications be added to food?

Medicines, if necessary, can be added to the nutrition of insects:

• sugar syrup;
• Candy.

Meals with the addition of medicines are given in the amount of 200 g per street. The frequency of feeding depends entirely on insect diseases. You can add to top dressing:

• dill oil;
• ascorbic acid;
• essential mint oil;
• salicylic acid.

Most often, beekeepers resort to the use of tetracycline antibiotics.

Feed laying rules

Viscous types of dressings are recommended to be given to insects:

• in the evening, which helps prevent theft in the apiary;
• in warm weather, as there is a chance that insects will start flying out of the hives.

Liquid top dressing is laid as follows:

• in outdoor feeders (it is not necessary to climb inside the hive);
• in the rear feeders (a great option to prevent theft);
• in the upper feeders (provides heat preservation of sugar syrup for a long time);
• you can feed the bees with bags (hungry insects gnaw through polyethylene perfectly);
• in glass jars;
• within the cell.

With liquid dressings, it is necessary to work as carefully as possible and not spill them.

Caring for bees after feeding

After the top dressing has been completed and the bees have left the wintering place, it is recommended to inspect the hives for the presence of a case. In addition, the inspection allows you to assess the strength of the bee colony and the amount of brood. If the insects are weakened and are not able to fully provide themselves with food, it is necessary to feed them for some more time, which will allow them to gain strength and get to work.

Conclusion

Feeding bees in winter is of particular importance. It is thanks to high-quality food that insects survive the winter without loss, are not exposed to diseases, the queen of the hive lays a large amount of brood.