Feeding bees: types and timing, rules and typical mistakes

Table Of Contents

Types and timing of fertilizing
How can you feed the bees
Rules for spring feeding
Why protein food is important
Therapeutic and stimulating top dressings
Typical mistakes

Proper feeding of bees is of great importance for insects. The strength of the bee family during the honey collection and the success of their wintering directly depend on the quality of the composition that is used. At the same time, it is important to strictly adhere to the timing of the introduction of nutrients. Compliance with the recommendations for the manufacture of products used for feeding is also of great importance.

Types and timing of fertilizing

Spring feeding is of particular importance for bees. It is aimed at solving such problems:

prevention and elimination of pathologies;
stabilizing feed stocks;
stimulating the uterus to lay eggs.

You can also replenish feed stocks. This procedure is carried out at any time during the active summer bee. In some cases, it is necessary to carry out winter feeding. It is required when there is a shortage of feed stocks.

Various substances can be used as top dressing. Beekeepers distinguish the following options:

without adding various substances;
using vitamins and drugs;
with stimulating ingredients.

How can you feed the bees

A variety of products are used to feed bees. To choose the best option, you need to analyze all the pros and cons.

Sugar syrup

Most often, sugar syrup is used for spring top dressing. It is recommended to give it in small feeders, not using it to obtain marketable honey. When primroses appear, liquid sugar feed can be used to stimulate bees to take off for the first flow.

To make the composition, you need to take pure sugar, pour warm boiled water and mix thoroughly. The amount of sugar affects the consistency of the syrup. It could be like this:

thick - mix sugar with water in a ratio of 2:1;
medium - components are connected in equal parts;
liquid - sugar and water are combined in a ratio of 1:2.

The finished product should be placed warm in the frame and frame feeders. On the days of top dressing, the areas near the hives should be clean. At the same time, only 2-3 bees should be opened for flight.

Otherwise, there is a risk of attracting thieves from neighboring apiaries to stocks.

Yeast top dressing

Preparing the composition is required each time before making. It quickly turns sour, therefore it is not subject to long-term storage. To get 1 liter of top dressing, you will need:

600 grams of sugar;
3 glasses of water;
50 grams fresh yeast;
half a glass of honey.

First, sugar must be mixed with water and boiled for several minutes. Strain hot syrup. Then measure fresh yeast and mix with 2 tablespoons of sugar until the consistency of sour cream. Add the mass to the syrup, mix again, heat again and bring to a boil. Then top dressing should be cooled to +30 degrees, add honey, mix and pour into the feeders.

Honey full

It's easy to make a honey full. Today there are many recipes for this product. Sometimes beekeepers introduce dried insects, plants, pieces of fat into the composition. You can also use the basic recipes of the substance. These include:

Thick full. It is used in case of removal of all honey from the hive. To do this, honey must be mixed with warm water in a ratio of 4: 1.
Average full. It is suitable for breeding bees. To make top dressing, you need to take 2 liters of honey and boiled water. Mix the ingredients until smooth.
Liquid full. This option is used if there is a supply of top dressing, but the uterus needs to be stimulated to lay eggs. In this case, 4 liters of boiled water are taken for 2 liters of honey.

Rules for spring feeding

In the spring, it is permissible to use viscous types of dressings. It is recommended to give them to bees like this:

in the evening - it helps to avoid theft in the apiary;
in warm weather - this will help the bees fly out of the hives.

Feeding liquid substances is carried out in the following ways:

into outdoor feeders - it is not necessary to climb into the hive;
in the rear feeders is a great solution to avoid theft;
top feeders - helps keep the sugar syrup warm for a long time;
packages - hungry bees easily gnaw through the film;
in cellular framework;
in glass jars.

Why protein food is important

Protein products are especially important for growing organisms - larvae. This is why adding nutrients in the spring is important.

With their help, it is possible to improve the parameters of egg production and speed up the cultivation of brood.

In this case, you can use protein sugar paste. To prepare it, you will need the following substances:

1 kilogram of soy flour;
300 grams of milk powder;
5.5 kilograms of powdered sugar;
2 liters of flower honey;
yeast;
flower pollen.

To prepare a he althy composition, it is recommended to do the following:

Add milk powder to soy flour. It is also worth mixing the mass with yeast and flower flour.
Introduce powdered sugar.
Add flower honey.

The resulting composition is used as a protein supplement, which is perfectly absorbed by bees.

Therapeutic and stimulating top dressings

If, with the advent of spring, there are suspicions that the bees have symptoms of diseases - first of all, nosematosis, you need to take immediate action. Identifying the disease is quite simple. With its development, neat bees begin to defecate directly on the arrival board and the walls of the hive. At the same time, there are signs of diarrhea on the frames.

In such a situation, top dressing must be combined with a remedy. One of them is considered "Nosemat". An effective preventive effect is the use of sugar syrup with the addition of acetic acid. To do this, mix 3 grams of the product with 1 liter of water and 1 kilogram of sugar.

Quite often, beekeepers use stimulant supplements. During the period of spring top dressing, it is recommended to make coniferous infusion. To get a strong family after wintering, Apimax should be used as top dressing.

In early spring you can start using sugar syrup. Adding cob alt will help make it more useful. This will affect the scarring. In this case, the number of brood will increase by 20-30%. As useful additives, you can use "DKM" or "Pchelodar".

Typical mistakes

When feeding bees, novice beekeepers can make common mistakes:

Pour the rest of the sugar syrup around the hives. This leads to theft.
Do not respect the timing of top dressing. The fact is that liquid syrup will force the bees to leave the hive. Therefore, it should be used after the establishment of dry and warm weather.
Do not feed bees in winter. If there is a shortage of food in the hive, this can lead to the death of insects.
Do not feed the bees in the spring. This forces the insects to conserve their remaining stocks, resulting in lower brood levels. As a result, the development of the family slows down, and its productivity decreases. Due to timely feeding, it is possible to stimulate the laying of eggs by the queen and increase the productivity of the bee colony.

Feeding bees is considered an important event that helps to make the family stronger and more resilient. Ultimately, this has a positive effect on the he alth of insects and increases the collection of honey.