Feeding sugar to bees
Sometimes bees need a helping hand with their stores. We make sugar syrup and give it to them in feeders. Some important points:
- Always use WHITE granulated sugar. Anything else will make your bees ill
- Always complete autumn feeding before the days start to cool. The bees need warmth to evaporate water. Any syrup left unprocessed in the comb will ferment and cause dysentry
- When hiving a swarm, always wait 48 hours so that the bees use up the honey in their crops first. It may carry pathogens
- Only feed in the evening at dusk and do not spill. Feeding during flying hours is a sure way of encouraging robbers
- NEVER feed honey to bees unless it is their own
- For comprehensive advice on feeding bees, please read the NBU Best Practice Guidelines
Sugar Ready Reckoner
If you have more than one hive and you are doing the rounds with syrup, you will want to calculate how much syrup to make; otherwise
you end up running short or carrying some home. This simple ready reckoner will help you to estimate how much sugar you need to fill your feeders.