Supplement bees food

Feeding Bees over the Winter – Using Fondant or Feed Paste

October 7, 2009 in Articles, Beekeeping, Beekeeping News, Bees

Well its getting to that time of year again when liquid feeds are no longer an option, by the end of October the cold weather should have taken hold rendering the bees unable to cope with syrup feed.

Depending on how much honey has been harvested or the strength of the hive will depend on the required feeding. If you have a strong hive and you have not taken any honey it would be fairly safe to say the bees have stored enough honey to get them through the Winter. Although checks should be made throughout the season to make sure (generally done by lifting the hive to determine weight, if its light feeding must be done).

However lets assume you want to feed your bees anyway. Using fondant or feed paste is the suggested feeding strategy in Winter, however its not, as a lot of people think just ordinary cake fondant (Im sure a lot of people use this successfully though). The fondant can be made up at home or can be purchased from somewhere like Thornes. Thornes supply fondant called Apifonda and it contains extra sugars like fructose and glucose. What you will notice about this fondant mixture is that it is in no way as hard as ordinary cake fondant, its much more malleable and will actually absorb a little moisture when placed in the hive.

This is why I would suggest either making your own fondant or buying something ready made like Apifonda, plus it has extra sugars that will help the bees. Ordinary cake fondant tends to go to hard when left in the air.

So now we have our fondant what exactly do we do with it? Well it is advised to place it on top of the brood frames (if the super is to remain on with honey you could place the fondant on top of these), spread it out and push it down between the frames slightly, so the bees dont need to move far to get it. A pack of Apifonda combined with their honey stores should tide them through until Spring but remember to do the weight check just in case.

When adding the fondant to the hive you should notice the bees hightened aggression, this is to ensure the safety of their stores, so make sure you have all your gear on to prevent stings.

Tags: Bee Health, Beekeepers Calendar, Bees, Feeding Bees, Supplement bees food, Winter Feeding 10 Comments »

Is it a good idea to harvest all the honey?

A recent conversation with my Mum has sparked this post and I think it raises and interesting point regarding the health of bees.

Obviously one of the benefits to keeping bees is the crop of honey provided but lets not forget why the bees make the honey in the first place….its certainly not for us to put in our tea? No, it is of course to help them survive the harsh winter months. But we can supplement their food/diet with sugar syrup and fondant I hear you cry! This I imagine is especially prevelant in more commercial apiaries but perhaps its a common practise with beginners through to experts. If so, should it be?

So we come to the crux of the issue. Is harvesting all the honey and the supplement of bees food detrimental to hive health; their immune systems in particular? The beneficial effects of honey have been well documented and we know it is a natural antiseptic. Surely honey as a complex solution that has evolved alongside the bee over tens of millions of years, cant be replaced with a simple sugar solution without having a detrimental effect on the bees.

Perhaps the lack of their natural food source is effecting their ability to combat disease and parasites? Could aggressive and greedy beekeeping techniques be contributing to the demise of the honey bee?