In some cases, beekeepers encounter problems when breeding bees. One of them is the lack of food supplies for the winter. In such a situation, insects need to be fed using special carbohydrate food. To feed bees for the winter, it is permissible to use different products - honey, sugar syrup, kandi, honey-beebread mixture. It is important to observe proportions and dosages.
What to feed bees in winter
For winter feeding of bees, it is permissible to use a variety of products. It is recommended to strictly follow the rules for preparing healthy mixtures.
Kandy
Kandy is considered one of the most effective types of bait for bees. It is a dough-like flatbread that has a soft and pleasant texture. The advantage of kandy is that this complementary food does not cause active reproduction of bees. This factor is of great importance. If you feed Candy bees, you will be able to avoid excess feeding costs and reduce the load on the bees.
To make kandi, you can use the following ingredients:
- 74% powdered sugar;
- 26% natural honey;
- 0.18% pure water;
- 0.02% acetic acid.
At the same time, experienced beekeepers try not to use this recipe, since honey contains various pathogens. Instead of this product, it is permissible to use invert sugar. Its composition is similar to honey, but does not contain a number of minerals.
To prepare this candi you will need the following ingredients:
- at least 70% powdered sugar;
- 29.8% invert sugar;
- 0.18% pure water;
- 0.02% acetic acid.
To make kandi, it is recommended to consider the following features:
- powdered sugar should not contain starch;
- When making kandi with honey, you will need the first grade.
To prepare the flatbread you need to do the following:
- Heat honey or invert sugar to +60 degrees. After which it needs to be cooled to +38 degrees.
- After the mass has cooled to the optimal temperature, add powdered sugar. In this case, it is recommended to stir the composition all the time to avoid the formation of lumps.
- Dust the board with powdered sugar and spoon out the thick mixture. After that, you need to knead the dough for half an hour so that it stops sticking to your hands.
- When properly made, kandy does not disintegrate and does not flow.
- Tin cans are suitable for storing the composition.
Sugar syrup
Bees can be fed sugar syrup. To prepare high-quality fertilizer, you need to use good sugar, not industrial waste. It is important to observe the proportions, namely, take 2 parts water and 3 parts sugar.
To make the desired composition, you need to bring the water to a boil, remove it from the stove and gradually add all the sugar. In this case, the mass must be stirred regularly.
It is strictly forbidden to bring the mixture to a boil. If the syrup burns, it should not be used to feed bees, as this composition will harm them.
The finished syrup needs to be cooled to +40 degrees and vinegar essence added to the composition. It is important to adhere to proportions. So, for 1 kilogram of sugar you will need 0.3 milliliters of essence. It must first be diluted with water to obtain a concentration of 3%.
Honey-beebread mixture
To feed a bee family, you can make a honey-beebread mixture. To do this, it is recommended to take the following components:
- 1 kilogram of honey;
- 500 milliliters of hot water;
- 500 grams of bee bread.
All components must be thoroughly mixed and passed through a sieve. Leave to infuse for 2 days, then use 500 milliliters per bee colony. This must be done at intervals of 2 days. Food must be poured into honeycombs and feeders.
Honey
If the bees do not have enough of their reserves, they need to be given additional honey. To do this, it is recommended to use a good quality sealed product.However, you cannot keep it outside. The mass must be preheated in a warm room.
If there is no such honey, you can use centrifugal honey. To make it, you need to mix each kilogram of beekeeping product with a glass of water. The resulting composition must be heated in a steam bath until the crystals are completely dissolved. It is recommended to pour the finished product into the feeders while warm.
How to calculate quantity
The average amount of food is determined by the strength of the bee colony and the number of frames in the coal. So, 1 nesting frame measuring 435x300 millimeters with 2 kilograms of food will be enough for a bee colony for 1 month.
Organization of feeding
To properly feed the bees, it is important to do it very carefully. Any careless movements can cause premature flight and lead to the death of insects. Therefore, when laying food, it is not recommended to disturb the nest.
To feed Kandy bees, the composition should be placed in 0.5-1 kilogram bags and slightly flattened. As a result, you need to get cakes 2-3 centimeters thick. You need to make holes in the film and place the cakes under a canvas or ceiling board. In this form, the fertilizer will not dry out. The period of feeding bees in this way is 3-4 weeks.
Possible mistakes
When feeding bees, inexperienced beekeepers make the following mistakes:
- incorrect calculation of feed volume;
- excessive crystallization of honey;
- using honeydew honey to feed bees;
- incorrect collection of the nest.
When feeding is not needed
You should not feed bees unless absolutely necessary.This process poses serious stress to insects, which can lead to their death. If there is a sufficient amount of food and the bees behave peacefully, there is no need to feed them.
Feeding bees for the winter should be carried out only when absolutely necessary. For this, it is permissible to use honey, kandi, sugar syrup. It is imperative to adhere to the rules for adding nutrients so as not to harm the bees.
