Feeding our bees.

Sometimes our bees need a bit of a top up feed. It might be because the weather is being unkind and they can’t get out to collect nectar, because there’s a gap in local forage e.g. June Gap, because we want to top up their supplies for winter, or because we want to give a new colony a helping hand – this would be a nuc or a collected swarm.

What to feed?

We should always use white granulated sugar or a product made from white granulated sugar – never ‘raw’ or ‘unbleached’ sugar because these types of sugar contains too many impurities that can make our bees very sick. White granulated sugar is as clean a food as our bees need.

Historically, and if fairly urgent, some beekeepers would just simply cut an X into a 2lb packet of white granulated sugar, pour in a cup of water and leave it for a few moments, then invert the pack over the bees. When the paper was thrown out of the front it meant two things – the colony was still alive and that they might want some more. So feeding bees doesn’t have to be hard or complicated and all the fancy measuring isn’t as crucial as we’re led to believe.

What to feed, and when.

For most commercial beekeepers there’s no real choice; it’s a commercially produced invert syrup or nothing. These syrups, which only come in one strength, are more expensive but then time is also expensive. It would take one lone bee farmer many, many, hours to mix enough gallons of syrup to feed several hundreds of colonies; time that is better spent on other beekeeping-related tasks.

We ‘hobbyists’, which is a term I detest even if it’s true, are comparatively time rich so we can spend our time buying white sugar and mixing syrup for our few colonies. We can pick up enough sugar along with our ordinary grocery shopping and mix the solution in a container in our kitchen.

The time of year dictates what sort of feed we give our bees, mostly. It’s the ‘season’ as well as the condition of the colony that should tell us what to feed, because we’ll know what the bees are going to ‘do’ with it.

In spring, and/or when colonies are building up, our bees are going to mostly use the extra food straight away to either feed young or use it as energy for wax making, so we feed them a 1:1 sugar:water mixture. There’s too much liquid in this mix for them to be able to store it without a lot of effort, but the amount of water means they don’t need to dilute the syrup before ‘eating’ it.

Later in the year, when they’re more likely to store the food, we feed them 2:1 sugar:water. The main reason for this is that there’s less work for them to do, they can mostly carry it to the cells, shove it inside, and then cap the cells with wax.

Autumn is a good time to feed Bakers Fondant but this can be used at any time of year – not because it’s more suitable but because it’s easier for a beekeeper to carry, it doesn’t go off in store, and it’s far better than giving them nothing. It won’t hurt your bees, it won’t go off, and in fact some beekeepers only ever give Bakers Fondant to their bees.

How to make syrup.

The easiest way is to get a plastic bucket, pour in the sugar and mark the top of the sugar on the side with a marker pen. Boil some water and pour it into the bucket until it reaches the line. The water will displace the air between the granules of sugar and you’ll have a 1:1 solution. This syrup should be used quickly because it will ferment and/or go mouldy.

2:1 is slightly different. A litre of water weighs a kilogram, so you need half as much sugar as water by volume. Boil the water, measure it in a jug, pour it in and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. This solution can be made in advance because it won’t ferment – the sugar acts as a fungicide.

There is scary talk about HMF appearing if you use water that’s too hot, but as soon as the kettle stops boiling the temperature starts to drop, add the water to cold sugar and it drops further so the risk is minimal.

Some sources talk about exact proportions, but nectar-giving plants aren’t that exact. Some offer nectar as low as 10% sugars, and the bees use these perfectly well. If you want to measure to exact ratios then go ahead, you won’t hurt your bees.

How to make fondant

Whatever you do, do not buy “Fondant Icing” from the local supermarket because it is not the same as Bakers Fondant. The mixture in those packets contains additives and plasticisers that won’t do your bees any favours. If it’s a ‘real emergency’ then scroll up to the top of this post and see how to feed a simple bag of granulated sugar.

I’ve never actually made fondant for my bees because the timing and the temperatures can be quite tricky. For me it’s easier to phone my nearest baker and ask for a 12.5kg pack of Bakers Fondant, which costs about £1/kilo. This doesn’t mean to say there aren’t recipes out there, so I’ve searched for some to save you a little time.

My go-to online reference for all things beekeeping is Dave Cushman, but his site doesn’t have a clear recipe although it does say that liquid glucose should be used in with the sugar and water. http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/feedingcandy.html

Edinburgh and Midlothian beekeepers has a fondant recipe that contains vinegar http://www.edinburghbeekeepers.org.uk/downloads/Fondant-Recipe.pdf

A recipe held within the Beekeeping Forum archive talks about 240^oF and/or soft-ball, and how important it is to remove from the pan from the heat, immerse it in cold water, and keep stirring the contents otherwise the mixture can spoil. https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-82.html I know from making fudge, which can quickly turn into toffee that sugar boiling temperatures can be critical.

How much to feed?

This is another thing that can get tricky. Feed enough to make sure they don’t store so much that the queen has nowhere to lay, but not so little that there’s a risk of starvation. Only feed when necessary.

When we inspect bees it’s important to always check that the colony is healthy, that there’s a laying queen, she has space to lay, and that there are enough food stores to last until the next inspection. In June the next inspection will be in a week or so, but if you’re inspecting in late September the next time you open those boxes mightn’t be until early March the following year.

The most critical time for almost all colonies in Britain is not going in to Winter, it’s the coming out of Winter and into early Spring because that’s the time when the colony’s natural stores will be dwindling and the colony size will be rapidly increasing. It’s also the time when the weather is likely to be rubbish enough to mean they can’t get out to collect both pollen and nectar from natural sources such as Willow.

It’s easy to get it wrong and feed too much, and easy to get it wrong and not feed enough. Feeding too much can lead to a colony absconding, not enough can lead to them starving. So, when you’re new to beekeeping, check things out with a bee buddy or a mentor. Nobody will mind you asking questions – that’s what they’re there for.

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