Feeding bees

Signs or indications

Jars or pails that are placed on the top bar; internal hive feeders for feeding sugar syrup and patties of protein supplement inside colony, especially during the spring and fall.

Description

Bee colonies experiencing nutritional stress or other stressors may be helped by supplemental feeding of additional sugar or protein.

Sugar, fed dry in crystal form or as sugar cakes or as a syrup, may be provided using feeders at the top, inside (alongside frames) or outside the hive, as an entrance feeder or feed lot feeding. Various sugars are used with sucrose from cane or beets, an inverted sugar source, such as divert or fondant, or on a larger scale in the form of corn syrup. Other sugar sources such as rice are used to a lesser degree.

Protein may be fed with pollen substitute or a supplement that contains a small amount of pollen to attract bees to feed. Protein is fed dry outside the hive or mixed with sugar syrup and fed as moist paddy inside the hive, usually at the top or between brood boxes. Most protein sources are duplicated from dairy or cattle feeds with additions to keep a paddy form drying out, and they exclude milk due to the toxicity of milk sugars.

 Syrup feeders on top of commercial beekeeper hives; photo by Robert Snyder
Syrup feeders on top of commercial beekeeper hives; photo by Robert Snyder
 Feeding bees syrup within black jugs on top of colony; photo by Dewey M. Caron
Feeding bees syrup within black jugs on top of colony; photo by Dewey M. Caron
 Feeding bees sugar syrup; photo b: Dewey M. Caron
Feeding bees sugar syrup; photo b: Dewey M. Caron
 Bees filling in brood cells with fresh nectar or sugar water in preparation for winter; photo by Dewey M. Caron
Bees filling in brood cells with fresh nectar or sugar water in preparation for winter; photo by Dewey M. Caron
 Feeding bees protein patties. which are being placed on top bars of upper box; photo by Chris Hiatt
Feeding bees protein patties. which are being placed on top bars of upper box; photo by Chris Hiatt
 Feeding a protein patty; photo by The BeeMD photo collection
Feeding a protein patty; photo by The BeeMD photo collection
 Feeding protein patties; photo by Oregon State University
Feeding protein patties; photo by Oregon State University