How to prepare autumn feeding of bees with sugar syrup and a table of proportions

Bees need to be fed with sugar syrup in the autumn when there is poor honey production or a large volume of pumping. At the same time, the insects may not have had time to prepare the required amount of substance for a normal wintering or they may have made honey that is not of very high quality. Feeding bees in the fall with sugar syrup requires proper proportions. It is important to feed insects at a specific time.

What is it for?

Autumn feeding of colonies is necessary to ensure sufficient nutrition for the subsequent wintering of the swarm. Honey is considered a suitable option.The use of sugar syrup allows you to preserve the beekeeping product. This makes maintaining an apiary more profitable from a commercial point of view.

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At the same time, autumn feeding is usually needed in the following cases:

1. Placing the apiary away from honey plants. At the same time, insects can stock up on honeydew honey, which is a toxic product for them. It must be completely removed from the hives and replaced with a sugar solution. When nectar crystallizes, bees do not seal it. In this case, the mass is also removed.
2. Large amounts of precipitation in summer. Constant rain prevents insects from flying out. Therefore, they cannot collect the required amount of nectar to make honey.
3. Replacement measure after pumping.
4. Not very good flowering of honey plants.
5. The need to treat the swarm. In this case, a drug is added to the sugar syrup.

If honey collection is unsatisfactory in the central regions, incentive feeding is used in the fall. It activates the instincts of the bee colony. This measure is necessary if the queen has stopped laying prematurely. Sugar nutrition must be given in small portions. At the same time, the receptionists consider it a bribe. This stimulates increased feeding of the uterus. Due to this, the resumption of masonry is activated.

When to feed?

Bees can be fed with sugar syrup at different times of the year. Moreover, each option has its own characteristics.

in spring

With the arrival of spring, to stimulate egg laying, it is worth feeding the bees with syrup, the concentration of which is 50%. This option helps to imitate the natural harvest as accurately as possible and helps to increase the strength of the bee colony for the summer harvest.

In summer

In the summer, bees should also be fed with syrup at a concentration of 50%. If, during rainfall or dry weather, flower nectar does not reach the hive for a long time, the queens will practically stop sowing. As a result, families will approach the main bribe weak. In such a situation, they will be able to apply honey only to themselves or will even require feeding throughout the winter.

When feeding in summer, it is important to observe the timing of the application of the substance. Sugar syrup is best given to bees in the evening in a volume of 200-300 grams per family. Thanks to this, insects will be able to process the composition overnight, and in the morning they can freely go for natural nectar.

in autumn

Feeding bees in the fall is required when there is a lack of food for wintering. In this case, syrup with a concentration of 1.5:1 is used. Bees get this kind of food best from feeders. At the same time, they wear out less and do not waste as much sugar during processing, distribution into the honeycombs and their sealing.

in winter

Giving bees liquid food before the cleansing flight is strictly prohibited. In this case, the insects may decide that a bribe has begun and will fly out into the cold, which will lead to their death. In such a situation, it is recommended to take a frame from the edge of a nest or from a hive with a dead colony and place it on top of the frames. First it needs to be heated.

Immediately after the flight, you can give the bees syrup. To prepare it you need to use 2 parts sugar and 1 part water. This volume is ideal for feeding in winter.

Proportions

In order for feeding bees to be successful, it is important to adhere to the ratio of components when making syrup.It is also worth considering the following:

1. Use only white sugar. Cane product is not recommended for use.
2. Pour water into a container and bring it to a boil.
3. Add sugar in small portions. At the same time, it should be constantly stirred.
4. Keep the mixture on the stove until the crystals are completely dissolved.
5. Do not boil the liquid so that the mixture does not burn.

To properly prepare sugar syrup, you can use the following table:

Recipes

In addition to standard sugar syrup, you can prepare other feeding options. One of the most effective remedies is considered to be a composition with the addition of vinegar. Bees take this substance much more readily and spend less energy on processing. The acid in the solution activates the breakdown of sugars and significantly facilitates the work of bees.

It is recommended to prepare the composition using vinegar essence with a concentration of 80%. In this case, you need to use half a tablespoon per 5 kilograms of sugar. Beekeepers prefer to use apple cider vinegar, which fills the feed with vitamins and microelements. Thanks to this, the bee colony tolerates wintering better, and the queen begins to lay eggs earlier. In this case, for 1 liter of sugar syrup you should use 2 tablespoons of vinegar.

You can also cook syrup with the addition of hot pepper. This component is used for the prevention and treatment of varroatosis.Bee colonies respond well to the component. At the same time, pepper has a beneficial effect on digestion and helps cope with dangerous mites.

First you need to make a tincture. To do this, it is recommended to do the following:

• chop 50 grams of red pepper;
• place the product in a thermos and add 1 liter of boiling water;
• leave to infuse for a day;
• add 150 milliliters of tincture per 2.5 liters of sugar solution.

Using syrup with the addition of hot pepper in the fall helps stimulate the queen to lay eggs. In addition, the substance helps to shed mites from bees. In this case, it is worth using 200 milliliters of the product per 1 street.

You can add sugar syrup in bags. In this case, you should do the following:

1. Pour the food into the bag, release the air and tie it 4 centimeters above the liquid.
2. Place the feeder on top of the frames.
3. It is not necessary to make cuts. The insects themselves will chew through the material.
4. When calculating the dosage, you should focus on the number of insects in the bee colony. Overnight, a swarm of 8 frames can process approximately 4.5 liters of raw materials into honey.

Possible mistakes

Sometimes novice beekeepers make mistakes that cause insects to not take the syrup. The main reasons include the following:

1. The appearance of a strong bribe. In August, bees can switch from honeydew to collecting honey. In such a situation, they will not take feeding.
2. Triggering of bees and a large area with brood. Weakened insects will not tolerate artificial nectar, but will concentrate on warming the young.
3. Infections in hives. Sick bees will not prepare supplies.
4. Using fermented product.
5. Late feeding time. At temperatures below +10 degrees, bees stop taking bribes.
6. Using the wrong container.A foreign odor in the hive can cause bees to refuse syrup.

An important reason for refusing to feed may be the behavior of the uterus. Before the end of the main honey flow in bad weather, the queen bee stops laying eggs. However, during the application of fertilizing, this process does not resume. The worker bees wear out and move away, while there are not enough young insects to carry and digest the sugar nectar.

Analogs

In addition to sugar syrup, other mixtures are used in beekeeping. These include sugar candies, kandi, bee bread with the addition of milk or yeast. Each composition has its own characteristics.

Quite often, beekeepers use kandi to feed bees. To prepare such a mixture, it is recommended to take the following components:

• 1 serving of honey;
• 4 servings of powdered sugar.

To begin with, the honey must be heated in a water bath, and the powder must be sifted through a sieve. After this, the components need to be mixed. Kandi is recommended for feeding bees in the winter season.

It is also useful to use compositions based on bee bread. This substance is plant pollen that bees collect in honeycombs. This is a healthy protein-carbohydrate product. In spring, bees should be given bee bread and milk. The combination of these products helps the insects raise brood. In autumn, a combination of bee bread and yeast is more suitable.This mixture helps the bees increase their protein reserves, which will increase their chances of a successful winter.

Using sugar syrup to feed bees is considered a fairly effective method. This product provides insects with nutrition and helps them survive the winter. It is important to prepare the composition correctly, strictly observing the proportions.