How is bees fed with sugar syrup for the winter? Feeding bees.

Breeding and caring for bees is a responsible and time-consuming process. After the summer season, the owner of the hives should take care of the condition of the insects and food supplies. For a successful wintering of bees, it is necessary to carry out top dressing in the fall. This procedure will help to keep the maximum number of individuals in families in the cold season with good health and strength for the future flight.

Preparing bees for winter

After the summer season, the owner of the hives needs to audit the families. How to prepare bees for winter? To do this, he must calculate the age of the uterus and the number of brood. These data will help him decide on the need for additional measures to prepare bee colonies for wintering.

If the farm has evidence with insects of different "strength", then the bees should be fed with sugar syrup, because the stocks of natural honey usually go to weak colonies.

When all kinds of diseases are found in insects, the evidence is necessarily processed with special veterinary preparations. Thus, before the onset of cold weather, families will be able to restore their health and get stronger. Also, the necessary medicines are added to the top dressing.

Is sustenance needed?

In winter, bees experience two phases of life and development. The first half of this time of year is characterized by complete calm and peace in the evidence. During this period, insects practically do not move in nests and do not eat food. They are gaining strength and energy for the next stage.

The situation completely changes in the bee colony with the appearance of brood. At this time, insects begin to be active:

• feed the brood;
• maintain a certain temperature in the place of the brood;
• regulate humidity.

In connection with such violent activity, they expend a large amount of energy, which must be restored through nutrition. Therefore, sugar syrup will be able to help families to hold a quality brood.

The optimal time for the harvesting process and the use of sugar syrup

Experienced beekeepers are divided in opinion. Some believe that top dressing can be done at the end of autumn, others insist on the spring version of the use of syrup. When to start feeding bees for the winter?

Nevertheless, it is believed that it is better to carry out this process at the end of August and before the beginning of September. The years of bees at this time noticeably decreases and the period of nectar flow ends. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that there are no flowering plants near the hives. Otherwise, the bees will fly to these flowers, and not process the sugar syrup.

In the southern regions of the country, feeding bees for the winter with sugar syrup can be done until October 5-10. Here at this time the average daily temperature is still above 10 0 . In other parts of the country, it is better to complete this process before September 15-20.

Late feeding does not allow insects to completely process the food before the birth of offspring. And in the process of processing top dressing, young individuals should not participate in any case. This occupation will simply destroy them. The main task in the winter of a new generation of bees is to gain strength and energy for the spring-summer season. Such insects simply wait out the cold period in comfortable conditions.

Late brood delays the first flights of young. This leads to the fact that insects begin to empty themselves into honeycombs. And bees do not use such places for harvesting honey. Thus, in the next season, the collection of nectar and its processing into honey may be significantly reduced, and individuals may also be affected by a bacterial infection.

Insects process syrup for feeding bees for approximately 14 days. During this period, the temperature regime on the street is extremely important. If this process is carried out in the spring, then the process of scarring of the uterus can be accelerated, which will lead to the loss of a large number of insects.

How to achieve the processing of sugar syrup first and the correct calculation of its amount

To do this, before carrying out work on top dressing, you need to place two empty frames inside the hive. Thus, processed syrup insects will be placed in these honeycombs. According to the structure of the bees, they begin to absorb food from the middle of the hive. Then, closer to the spring period, they will move to the combs on the side, where there will be reserves of natural honey.

Feeding bees for the winter with sugar syrup should be carried out in a certain amount. Calculating the required weight is quite simple. To do this, you need to decide on the total amount of food for the whole winter for one family. According to the estimates of experienced beekeepers, 2 kg of honey is needed for 3,000 insects (one street of the frame).

According to the rules of beekeeping, the main part should be natural food. This is honey that bees make. The owner of the evidence at the end of the season leaves him on the frame. It contains all the necessary substances for the life of insects.

Honey, which insects will produce from sugar syrup, can be 30% of the total feed. It is worth noting that the calculation is made from the mass of sugar, and not from the weight of the syrup. This means that bees produce 1 kg of honey from the same amount of sugar, and not from a ready-made sweet solution.

Features of the preparation of syrup

In autumn, individuals should not expend much energy on the process of splitting complex polysaccharides into monosaccharides. Also, they should not spend a lot of time sealing the combs. To do this, feeding the bees for the winter with sugar syrup should be carried out strictly according to the schedule, observing the exact proportions of the components when preparing the solution.

Sugar can be used beet and cane. It should not contain foreign impurities. Water for making syrup must be purified. It must be boiled and defended for several days. During this time, a precipitate forms in a container with water, which must be drained.

If sugar has absorbed a lot of moisture during storage, then the finished syrup is boiled for 10-15 minutes. Thus, it will be possible to avoid infection of bees with fungal diseases. Boiling the syrup is strictly prohibited. You also need to strictly monitor that it does not burn, otherwise the insects will not be able to process it.

You need to prepare the syrup in an enamel bowl. It should be thick. To process a liquid sweet solution, the bees expend a lot of energy and enter the wintering mode weakened. This will affect their health and honey quality next season.

The composition of the syrup for feeding bees for the winter

Beekeepers have tried many different feeding recipes. Now we use proven and high-quality compositions:

1. The most optimal ratio is 3 (sugar) : 2 (water). Thus, 60% of the sugar content of the syrup is obtained. For example, to prepare 10 liters of ready-made food, you need to take 6 kg of sugar and 4 liters of water. To prevent crystallization, acetic acid is added to the mixture in a proportion of 0.3 ml per 1 kg of sugar. This ingredient has a good effect on the quality of wintering bees. They have a more developed fat body, and they produce excellent brood in the spring.
2. You can increase the immunity of insects with the help of cobalt supplements. This component favorably affects the young. The bees increase their resistance to diseases and in the spring they fly with good strength. You can buy this component at a pharmacy. There, the substance is sold in the form of tablets. It is enough to add such 2 tablets to 2 liters of ready-made syrup.
3. Honey from processed syrup does not have enough nutrients for bees. To bring the composition as close as possible to natural, cow's milk is added to the sugar solution. Thus, the bees can use 76% of the required nutrients. To prepare such a syrup, you need to take 20% less water. After the finished syrup has cooled to 45 0, you need to add milk in the amount of water missing to the proportion. So, to prepare 10 liters of syrup, you need to use 3.2 liters of water and 0.8 liters of milk. Such a solution is fed into the hive in a warm state.
4. Baker's yeast is often used in recipes. In this case, the syrup is cooked in a ratio of 1:1. For 10 liters you need to take 250 g of pressed yeast. They need to be ground into half a liter of ready-made syrup and then added to the entire solution, mixing well. Such top dressing of bees for the winter with sugar syrup will provide the insects with a sufficient amount of trace elements and vitamins. When using dry yeast, they should be soaked in advance at the rate of 12 g per 1 liter of finished syrup.
5. To avoid nosematosis, you need to add Fumagillin to the syrup at the rate of 250 ml per 12.5 liters of finished feed. The medicine must be diluted in clean water before use.
6. To protect the hives from ticks, you need to add a small amount of needles to the top dressing. Also, such an additive will provide families with additional vitamins and give the solution a pleasant smell.
7. You can replenish the protein in the diet of bees with the help of a chicken egg. To do this, beat the egg well with a whisk or mixer and strain it through cheesecloth. The ingredient must be added to the finished syrup. For 1 family of bees, 1 pc will be enough.

All additional ingredients are added to the cooled syrup. Ready food should not be boiled or overheated. If necessary, boil the finished syrup, you need to periodically remove it from the heat before boiling.

Syrup preparation

Water in the required amount is settled in advance. Then it is brought to a boil in an enamel bowl and set aside from the fire. Only in this case, the required amount of sugar is added and mixed thoroughly.

When using a liter jar to measure the amount of ingredients, one must not forget that only 800 g of bulk substances are placed in it. After the sugar is completely dissolved, the syrup is left to cool to 40 0.

Now you can add the necessary additional components to the feed to increase the amount of vitamins and trace elements. Also, natural honey can be poured into the finished mixture in an amount of 10% of the total amount of the solution.

Bees seal honey from syrup into honeycombs, process it, reduce or add the required amount of water. Therefore, you need to carefully prepare sugar syrup for bees. Proportions 3:2 must be strictly observed. Thus, a syrup with optimal density is obtained, and it is easy for insects to process it into sugar honey and not spend extra energy.

How to carry out the feeding process

It is important not only to properly prepare the syrup, but also to distribute it correctly. Otherwise, all preparations will be in vain. An experienced beekeeper knows exactly the time and amount of feeding bees for the winter for his farm. Young owners should familiarize themselves with the basic methods. Feeding bees with sugar syrup is done:

• small quantities at a time (up to 1 liter);
• large quantities (1-3 liters).

The first way is more acceptable and justified. In small doses, bees process sugar syrup into honey faster and better. The enzyme produced for the breakdown of sugars (invertase) is enough in sufficient quantities for the entire serving of top dressing.

The second method can be used under the condition of a large and strong family. It is also relevant under the condition of good brood in the hive. Feeding bees for the winter with sugar syrup takes place with the help of upper feeders and sometimes side feeders. Empty combs are removed from the hives in advance. From the upper feeders, insects take the syrup faster and process it, because it cools more slowly there.

Autumn feeding of bees with sugar syrup is carried out in the evening. Drops of sweet solution should not fall on the walls of the hive or on the ground around it. Otherwise, the bees will fly out and perform additional collection actions, and the food will not have time to process.

What container should be used?

Sugar syrup for bees (proportions must be strictly observed) can be placed in the hive in several ways:

• ceiling or side feeders, which are covered with wooden or straw bridges to avoid immersing insects in syrup;
• 3 liter jars;
• packing bags;
• filling empty honeycombs.

In small farms, improvised devices are often used when autumn feeding of bees with sugar syrup is performed. So, the prepared mixture is placed in a 3-liter jar, in which the neck is then covered with gauze folded in several layers. The jar is turned upside down and placed in the upper sections of the hives. The syrup should not flow out of the container. The bees suck the food through the gauze protection.

Using feed bags

The cheapest and most convenient way is to use packing bags for feeding. They differ from polyethylene in greater strength and the presence of microscopic pores, which allow the smell of syrup to spread well throughout the hive. Thus, you do not have to pierce the packages yourself.

With such a container, the bees will spend minimal energy on puncturing the bags, and the sugar solution will not drip onto the walls and floor of the hive. This method is often described by many professionals in the beekeeping section. Feeding bees for the winter with the help of bags takes a minimum of time and physical effort.

The bags are filled with ready-made syrup and tied. They are folded in the evening on the upper frames carefully so as not to crush the bees. This design is insulated and closed. In a few days, the bees will completely take away the top dressing and will process it.

So that the insects do not refuse to take food in this way, it is necessary to add a little natural honey to the syrup for smell. This method is considered the most common and convenient.

Preparation for winter begins in spring. It is important to prevent late swarming so that new bee colonies have a margin of time for all preparations. In autumn, the beekeeper is engaged in growing young autumn bees that can survive the winter well. Top dressing can be used to correct unfavorable periods, to prevent brood decline, to prevent diseases or to replenish missing supplies. It is necessary to bookmark the feed in a timely manner and prepare it correctly.

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Reasons for using sugar syrup

Beekeepers feed bees with sugar out of necessity. Cases when winter feeding is necessary:

1. 1. Poor honey flow, insufficient for a successful wintering.
2. 2. Available cruciferous honey is not suitable for winter food.
3. 3. With a prolonged deterioration in weather conditions, it is necessary to support the scarring of the uterus.
4. 4. When signs of feeding on honeydew are found.
5. 5. For the prevention and treatment of nematosis, a syrup is made in the proportion recommended for the drug.

Brood maintenance

The decrease in honey yield is often due to adverse weather. A meager bribe leads to a decrease in the intensity of egg laying by the queen. It will no longer be possible to increase the brood in the future if it decreases or stops. The bee colony will come to winter weakened. The autumn bee will not be enough.

Young autumn bees have significant features (according to G. F. Taranov). Their lifespan can reach 300 days. They seek to conserve energy and store protein, fat, and sugars in the body. Physiologically, young individuals are more useful than weakened "foragers". The resistance of the bee colony to cold depends on their quality.

The bee, which is inactive, retains its "youth" for months and in the spring participates in nursing the larvae along with the youth. "Pilots" extract components for honey and do not directly feed the offspring.

Under adverse weather conditions, it is necessary to support the activity of harvesting honey with the help of syrup. In small quantities (up to 7 kg per hive) sugar will not have a noticeable negative effect. When the weather improves, even a few days can make a difference. For one favorable day, honey collection can be from 7 to 11 kilograms. The bee family will have time to collect significant reserves of bee bread and nectar. Young growth will be enough and its quality will not suffer.

If the weather does not get better and the young are actively involved in the processing of syrup, then already worn-out individuals will overwinter. In their bodies there will be a significant lack of substances that are required for the breeding of brood in the spring. The quality of the renewed family will become worse.

cruciferous honey

Honey collected from cruciferous plants is very thick, difficult to pump out, and can crystallize directly in the combs. Such a product is poorly taken and absorbed by bee colonies in winter. If it is eaten before it shrinks, then nothing bad will happen, but its complete crystallization is the starvation of the bee colony. Heather, colza, horseradish, shepherd's purse, radish, cabbage, mustard, many herbs and some shrubs are cruciferous plants.

During the bribe from heather there is a strong wear of bee colonies (2 colonies out of 5). Heather honey is very healthy and tasty, but the process of pumping it out is not easy due to its density. It is not suitable as winter food for bee colonies. It is more reasonable to pump out honey and make top dressing with syrup. In autumn, Finnish beekeepers give bees up to 25 kilograms of sweet syrup to replace cruciferous honey.



honeydew honey

In autumn, bees collect any honey. The bribe obtained from honeydew and sweet insect liquid is of the lowest quality. Such sources of sugars are called pad. They contain a lot of modified starch, proteins and no plant antibiotics that prevent the reproduction of pathogens.

Honeydew honey has the largest dry residue and clogs the bee organism faster. Consequences of drinking this honey:

• honeycomb shedding;
• weakening and death.

It is important to detect signs of honeydew honey collection in time and stop it (open access of cold air to the hive). The presence of honeydew is determined using tests in a veterinary laboratory. The analysis is called - reaction to pad. Such a check in 2017 costs about 100 rubles.

Such an analysis can be done independently. One part of honey (several milliliters) is placed in a transparent container. Add one part distilled water and stir. Pour in 10 parts of medical alcohol and mix again. The more cloudy the solution, the more honeydew.

Signs of honeydew honey collection:

1. 1. Increased activity of bees in the late period, when there is no melliferous vegetation, and the collection continues.
2. 2. Black and bald bees (honeydew honeydew) appear - these are the consequences of feeding on honeydew honey.

Autumn feeding times

As soon as the August honey was pumped out, then you need to start feeding. Feeders should be inspected daily to check the amount of syrup remaining. Feeding ends around September 10th. If the autumn is warm, then there will be no problem, but the beekeeper must prepare for the worst case when the weather is cold. In the middle lane, by September 15, the laying of eggs should be completed so that the newborns have 5 days to fly around. Young individuals will have time to go out in September and the first days of October, make cleaning sorties and create a club.

In warm regions, these dates are pushed back to October. Beekeepers are wary of autumn feeding bees with syrup. There is an opinion that feeding bees in winter wears them out a lot - this is not entirely true. The August bee is actively involved in feeding, which will die off in September or October. The young bee participates insignificantly.

The harm and benefits of sugar

The bees process the sugar syrup, which is already partially fermented with honey. There is no need to make flights for sugary substances and bee bread, but the physiology of bees still remains flying. The body must be light (water, fat and protein mass are reduced) in order to be able to make long flights for prey. In this state, they will not be able to live until spring and raise their offspring with high quality. Only autumn young growth will survive until spring.

Sugar honey obtained from syrup will be very similar to some varieties of natural honey, but it will not contain many trace elements and minerals that winged workers should eat. The composition of the syrup can be improved with a decoction of useful herbs and roots (ginseng, licorice, chamomile, etc.). In autumn, honey syt with a high concentration of sugar is used. Syrup that is not processed enough will not seal and turn sour. Processing is hampered by a lack of water and enzymes.

In winter, the physiology of bees changes. After the last and before the first flight, they stop emptying their intestines. Everything eaten turns into energy and waste, which gradually accumulate in the abdomen. The more the intestines are filled, the worse the wintering. By preventing the accumulation of waste, the beekeeper reduces the incidence of disease in the bee colony and increases the chances of surviving the winter period well.

Scientific fact:

1. 1. On sugar syrup, the intestines of the insect are 70% filled.
2. 2. If wintering on honey, then this figure is 100% and 120% (honeydew honey).

Pros of fermented syrup:

• The syrup allows you to dilute the honeydew honey and reduce the filling to 80% -90%.
• When syrup is given to insects, the bees have a sense of bribe. The uterus begins to actively sow. Thus, the winter bee grows.
• There are years when the bees do not overwinter without feeding.

feeders

There are several types of feeders and each has its own characteristics. Vertical feeder:

• has a large volume;
• inconvenient to install in the hive;
• at low temperatures, the syrup cools quickly and does not pick up.

Horizontal feeder:

• lies on the nest, which means that heating is in progress;
• syrup is actively used from it;
• sometimes the bees drown if there is no float;
• sizes do not allow to contain more than 3 liters.

Plastic bags:

• volume up to 8 liters;
• fit on the frame and constantly heated;
• good access to syrup anywhere;
• simpler than any other method.



Feeding with a plastic bag

Syrup recipe

The proportions are given for 30 liters of the mixture. You will need a container of 30 liters, 20 kilograms of sugar (12 liters of volume), clean water without chlorine, natural apple cider vinegar and honey:

• Sugar is poured into a container and poured with 15 liters of hot water, which has settled for at least a day to remove chlorine. Do not bring water to a boil (it demineralizes). After the sugar dissolves, the temperature of the mixture will be close to room temperature.
• 6% apple cider vinegar is added in a ratio of 120 ml per 30 liters. Vinegar makes the solution similar to honey in acidity.
• Then 3 liters of natural honey are added (1/10 of the volume). Honey is needed to ferment sugar. Wait 6 hours before using the solution. The fermented syrup will be easier for the bees to process. If the mixture is hot, then the enzymes will be destroyed and the value of such a syrup will be much lower.
• The syrup is poured into bags, which must be checked for leaks. It is better to put the bag in the basin and only then fill it. After filling, flatten the bag, squeeze out the air and tie tightly. You need to transfer the packages in a large container (basin, pan) and cover with a towel so that the syrup does not cool down.

The process of laying food takes one or two minutes per hive:

• the cover is removed;
• the insulation and canvas are removed;
• the package is evenly placed on the frame;
• the hive closes again.

The bees themselves will gnaw holes in the bags. If this does not happen, then you can make several punctures with a needle. Periodically, you need to lay a new syrup. The bees themselves know the exact amount of feeding (5-8 liters). They will stop taking food when it is no longer needed. An alternative to syrup is a dough made from powdered sugar and honey - candi. This type of food does not stimulate brood and can be used in winter. Sugar feeding is needed only in exceptional cases.

In beekeeping practice, bees are often fed with sugar syrup for the winter. A number of researchers have shown that replacing even a part of good-quality honey for the winter with sugar worsens the quality of bees and leads to a decrease in productivity. Nevertheless, autumn top dressing is necessary in some cases. Honey collected in dry years, as a rule, crystallizes in honeycombs, and honeydew honey must also be replaced. Beekeepers are forced to feed families with a lack of food supplies due to unfavorable honey collection conditions.

The literature provides conflicting information about the time of replenishment of fodder stocks for the winter. To determine the optimal timing of feeding sugar syrup, we, under the guidance of prof. G. F. Taranova conducted special experiments.

At the beginning of August 1977, three groups of 10 analogue families were formed. The bees of the first group were fed from 11 to 15 August, the second - from 1 to 10 September, the third - from 1 to 5 September. The syrup was prepared at the rate of three parts sugar to two parts water.

Before feeding nests of families were reduced in accordance with their strength. The syrup was poured into side feeders with a capacity of 4 liters. The families of the first and third groups were given a new portion of syrup in a day, and the second - in two. The total feed supply of honey and sugar feed was brought up to 2 kg per street. On average, 12.2-14.4 kg of sugar was added to the honey reserve of 10.5 kg per family (Table 1).

The families of the first group consumed the largest amount of feed in the autumn period. During the feeding period, the bees were in an active state, quickly reacted to the introduction of syrup. Active flight activity and increased egg production of queens were observed. While the brood was in the hives, the colonies consumed 5.9 kg of feed.

The families of the third group spent the least amount of food during the same period. Top dressing, carried out at a later and shorter time, less activated the bees and queens. For 12 days from the start of feeding, the families of this group raised an average of 2100 larvae, while the families of the second group - 2900, or 38% more, having consumed 0.6 kg (25%) more feed.

A month and a half after feeding, the families of the first group were somewhat stronger than the families of other groups. However, after wintering, they no longer differed in the number of bees from the second group and were inferior to the colonies of the third group, which had the least amount of death by spring (188 g). The families of the first and second groups had a death toll of 316 and 250 g, respectively.

One of the main indicators characterizing the results of wintering is the ability of colonies to grow the largest amount of brood in the spring, to have a large mass of bees by the beginning of summer. In our experiment, the largest amount of brood was grown in the period from April 1 to May 18 by the colonies of the third group, which had the largest mass of bees by June (Table 2).

To maximize the growth of bees to the main honey collection and for anti-swarm purposes, we formed early layers from those colonies that reached a strength of at least 11 streets and had brood on seven to eight frames. Until June 1, 1978, nine divisions were organized, including six from the families of the third group.

The data obtained indicate that the timing of the replenishment of fodder reserves for the winter with sugar has a significant impact on the life of families, the outcome of wintering and spring development.

In 1978, on a group of 40 families, we repeated the experiment, feeding 12 kg of sugar immediately after the nests were assembled for the winter (from September 1 to September 5) and as soon as possible (three to five days). The control group received 6 kg of sugar.

Accounting for the results of wintering families showed that there were no differences between the experimental and control groups. However, the economic efficiency of feeding an increased dose of sugar turned out to be close to zero, since bee colonies that received twice as much sugar collected less honey.

Experiments have shown that it is advisable to feed sugar syrup immediately after the nests are assembled for the winter. In the middle zone of the country, this period usually occurs in late August - early September.

The syrup should be poured into the feeders daily in large portions - 4-5 liters each, so that it is transferred to the combs during the day and top dressing would be carried out in three to five days.

19.12.2016 0

It is possible to strengthen and secure the health of the bee colony in various ways. One of the most proven and effective is additional feeding with syrup and honey. Feeding bees in winter: when and how to do it right, as well as important nuances of this procedure are described in the information of our article.

Why is it needed?

Many beekeepers at the beginning of their work neglect this procedure. Meanwhile, top dressing of bees for the winter is extremely important. This will provide the necessary strength and reserves for a successful wintering, so in the spring the workers will actively begin the honey harvest, and will not throw all their strength into restoring numbers.

Of course, at the time of the main flow, it is necessary to leave enough honey for the hibernation of the bee colony, but sometimes it is better to use a different method of stockpiling. For example, if weather conditions were not conducive to the collection of good quality honey, or if insects had an overwhelming amount of honeydew or crystallized honey at their disposal.

In this case, the frames must be replaced with suitable honeycombs, and a few left empty to form stocks from the raw materials used.

Why top dressing is better:

• more honey is left for personal purposes and sales;
• it is cheaper and faster;
• stimulation of the uterus to scarlet, more brood will appear for spring;
• bees save energy by not making long flights in search of autumn flowers;
• you can simultaneously perform treatment and prevention with medications.

Feeding bees for the winter is not suitable for all families, besides, it should be borne in mind that more than a third of the main feed cannot be replaced with sugar syrup. Feeding exclusively on sugar often leads to intestinal disorders and weakening of the body of insects, up to complete death. That is why feeding sugar is unacceptable for weak families.

In addition, large reserves of such honey will lead to a lag in development, because not all important trace elements are present in the syrup. This will lead to a weakening of the family in the spring, a decrease in departure and a reduction in numbers. How to feed the bees in winter, the features of this procedure and the preparation of suitable compositions are discussed in detail in the information of our article.

Organization of feeding

An important step is the preparation of a suitable mixture. It should not be too liquid, otherwise the cooked honey will quickly ferment and become unfit for food. At the same time, its consistency should be convenient for eating, and also contain the necessary substances.

It is best to organize additional insulation of the feeders so that the solution maintains its original temperature for a long time. The simplest and most proven recipe for preparing a formula for feeding is given in the further information.

How to prepare the sugar mixture:

1. For two liters of water, you need to take three kilograms of sugar. It is advisable to add at least 100-150 grams of flower honey from the previous bribe to this mixture. The use of honeydew and substandard honey is unacceptable, as it can lead to diseases of the digestive tract of insects.
2. Water should be brought to a boil and removed from heat. After it cools down a little, sugar must be introduced in small portions.
3. Sugar must be completely dissolved so that no grains remain at the bottom.
4. After the sugar syrup has cooled to 40-50 degrees, honey is added to the mixture. It should not be introduced earlier, otherwise it will lose its useful qualities and become dangerous for bees.
5. For ease of use, the mixture must be poured into special ones, but many beekeepers use tightly tied plastic bags. The bees will willingly take warm syrup, but they don’t take cold syrup very much.

How much feed is needed can be calculated in advance, but the deadlines are clearly established empirically. For the middle lane, this is mid-August - early September. It is during this period that the bees will be able to process the received food well, and the honey will have time to ripen at the required temperature.

The deadline is September 10, so that the brood that appeared at this time does not have time to take part in the processing of honey and can safely overwinter. If you do not meet these deadlines, the chances of a successful wintering will be significantly reduced.

Feeding bees in winter should be carried out with extreme caution and in compliance with important nuances. The calculation of the required amount is based on the revision of the hive. Usually this is about 10 kilograms of honey for each bee colony, but you can take more. If you are using sugar syrup, then you need to count the received stocks, based on the amount of sugar used in cooking.

Feeding features:

• Poor quality honey should not be used. Prepare sugar syrup immediately before feeding;
• it is best to take “native” honey so as not to transfer a possible infection from another hive;
• as feeders, you can use the place of one or more frames. In this case, the number of stocks will decrease slightly, which is not always justified for a small hive;
• the top feeder allows top dressing without protective devices, it is installed directly under the lid, but has an important drawback - a small volume;
• it is best to expose food in the evening to exclude cases of theft between families;
• adding acid to the syrup is not recommended. This will reduce the storage capacity of the resulting honey, because the bees will add less useful enzymes to it. On the other hand, it wears out the worker bees more, so for relatively weak colonies, this will be the best option;
• you can not use sunflower honey as a top dressing. It has the ability to quickly crystallize, which is not suitable for feeding a bee colony.

Bees are fed in winter in special cases, for example, during prolonged bad weather or severe frosts. For this, you can not use liquid formulations, it is better to prepare sugar paste. The food is placed directly under the cover of the hive so that the bees have constant access to food.

How to make sugar paste:

1. For a medium-sized hive, you need to take 1 kg of honey and 4 kg of powdered sugar.
2. Melt honey in a water bath, avoiding overheating.
3. Stir evenly into the resulting mass of a portion of powdered sugar.
4. "Knead" the paste like dough.
5. If the mixture is too thick, you can thin it with a little water.

Roll out the resulting pasta into a loaf. Dimensions are determined individually, depending on the dimensions of the opening suitable for feeding. For a comfortable removal of residue from the walls and lid of the hive, it is best to put the cooked pasta in cheesecloth, and also use another suitable cloth with a large weave.

Do not get carried away with advice on adding various decoctions and medicines to the mixture. The use of medicines must be strictly dosed, in addition, drugs may lose some of their properties during storage, so be sure to clarify this issue before buying.

Many beekeepers advise adding a small amount of salt to the finished syrup. Until now, this method has not been scientifically confirmed, so you should not experiment. One thing is known: bees will not take salted syrup even in conditions of noticeable starvation. It is extremely difficult to process such a mixture, even for strong families, so it is better to limit yourself to the above recipe for preparing sugar top dressing.

Video: feeding bees in winter.

Winter activities

Feeding bees for the winter is done at different rates. Small portions of food are given every day. If you immediately set a large volume, you need to feed every other day.

To determine how a family tolerates wintering, a simple diagnostic method can be used. To do this, you need to “listen” to the hive with a rubber tube at least once a week. If the hum is uniform, then everything is in order. The complete absence of characteristic noises, as well as a restless and intermittent rumble, should alert.

Important points:

• it is desirable to carry out all manipulations indoors so as not to chill insects;
• you can not use liquid food to support bees for the winter, it is better to prepare honey-sugar fudge;
• if the hive is in a omshannik, the number of top dressings can be reduced by a factor of three, because insects need to spend less energy on heating;
• lack of nutrients during wintering will lead to the wholesale death of bees, so be sure to follow this parameter;
• too large portion of top dressing also negatively affects the development of bees, so it is necessary to feed insects at the rate of no more than 13-15 kg per hive.

It is possible to assess the condition of the family and the quality of the activities carried out only in the spring after the first flight. It was then that an important time came for the prevention of characteristic diseases and the strengthening of the family with appropriate feeding. How to feed the bees in the spring and whether it is necessary to do this is the topic of a separate article.

Autumn - it's time to feed the bees before wintering. If the apiary is small, then it is quite possible to cope with feeding with the help of feeders, but if the apiary is large, with 300 or more bee colonies, then in order to reduce labor intensity, it makes sense to use feeding in an open way.

In an open way, you can only feed the bees for wintering, it is not recommended to carry out therapeutic feeding in this way, since the dosage of therapeutic drugs for the bee colony will not be maintained. One bee family will take more, the other very little, so if you treat it through the syrup in the feeder, accurately maintaining the recommended dosage of the veterinary preparation. To prevent undesirable phenomena in the form of disease transmission between bee colonies, all mandatory veterinary measures and treatments should be carried out in the apiary, in particular, immediately after honey is pumped out and honey casings and extensions are removed, bees are treated for ticks, as a result, by the time the tick is fed, there are very few . In addition, the fight against wasps should go on in the apiary from the beginning of the season, then the wasps will not come in clouds to the tank with syrup and bees will die less from philanthropists in the summer.
It is necessary to start such food for the winter as early as possible, but it is necessary to wait for the temperature to drop by at least 5 degrees, so that the bees “feel that autumn has come”, otherwise there will be problems with theft. At the same time, outcast families and weak families are robbed in the first place. Therefore, to prevent theft, immediately after the end of the main bribe, the entrances are slightly reduced. It is also impossible to feed the bees in an open way if there are neighboring apiaries within the radius of the summer bees. In addition, in many regions, the main bribe is a sunflower, or another strong summer honey plant, in which the strength of families sags and the bees need to grow young bees in the winter. It is important to start feeding with these points in mind.

Feeding is carried out 15-30 m from the hives. It is better to feed with sugar syrup, if there is an inventive sugar syrup, it is even better to feed it with honey, using old honey or washing the cast. It is advisable to first feed it with sugar syrup, and if there is honey for food, then leave it for last, since by this time there will be noticeably fewer bees and as a rule there will be no more theft.
The syrup is poured into a large tank, from where the bees take it. To prevent rain from flooding the syrup, the tank is covered with a lid, placing the lid on the boards so that the bees can enter the tank. Some beekeepers, in the absence of a tank, dig a pool in the ground, covering its bottom and walls with a film and pour syrup into the resulting pool. Usually a lot of bees die in a syrup tank, so beekeepers throw everything that can swim into the tank. But it should be remembered that grass or hay causes fermentation of syrup or honey satiety and should not be used categorically. Someone uses straw, but it makes sense to use foreign experience - pour a small layer of pre-washed expanded clay into a tank with syrup. Expanded clay does not sink, stays on the surface, it is made of neutral materials and does not enter into any reactions with syrup or water, in addition, it heats up in the sun, which allows bees to take warm syrup on a cool day.
After the end of feeding, an assessment is made, passing through the apiary and lifting the edge of the hive, a light hive means that the family is weak and, as a rule, must be disbanded, since in the next season it will still require a lot of effort and the result will be small. Therefore, if some kind of weak bee colony is plundered, then you should not feel sorry for it, it would have to be disbanded anyway. It is better when in the apiary all bee colonies are aligned in strength.

In Canada, this is a common way of feeding bees for the winter in industrial apiaries; Canadians say that there is no bee theft. Canadians are attracted to feeding bees for the winter in an open way by the fact that they have little time to feed the bees and by the fact that their bees spend the winter in one rut building, so bees will not be taken away more than the rut housing anyway. Some Russian beekeepers also practice the open method and quite successfully.
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