Feeding Bees in The Winter

Beekeeping in the Midwest allows for very few mistakes by a beekeeper. Preparing for and getting through winter takes ingenuity, know-how, and a little bit of luck. Sugar candies are one way to boost your colonies’ honey reserves late in the winter when they may be running low on the reserves you ensured they had prior to buttoning them up for the winter.
 
Advantages of sugar candies:

• Provides food source for colony.
• Candies won’t freeze or leak all over frames and bees during winter months.
• Bees can access candy when warm enough to travel within the hive.

 
When to feed:

• When the temperature is above 55 degrees F.
• Sun is out and bees are conducting cleansing flights.

 
How to feed:

• Open inner cover and place sugar candies on top of frames.
• Minimize time hive is opened.  This will minimize heat loss.
• Do not pull frames to inspect. Again, this will minimize heat loss.
• Take care not to smash bees with candy or inner cover.

 
How it works:

• Honey bees use their glossa (tongue) to lick the hardened syrup and ready to eat honey that make up the sugar candy.
• If a strong colony exists sugar candies will be devoured in a matter of days, as long as temperatures allow movement within the hive.  If only a momentary flash of warm weather occurs, then the hard candy can sit atop the frames (safe from pests) until the next warm front moves in.  At that point, bees will have a ready-made feast waiting for them.

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Honey warming bath on the left and sugar water mixture boiling on the right.

Ingredients:
You will need a scale to measure out ingredients.

• 4lbs. Sugar (1.81 KG)
• 320g Water
• 360g Honey

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Recipe: 

• Mix the water and sugar then bring to a boil and boil for 8-10 minutes.
• While boiling sugar and water warm honey in separate water bath.
• Poor warmed honey from the bath into the sugar water mixture.
• Stir and continue to boil for 3 more minutes.
• Not required, but check temperature to ensure that it is 117 deg. C. This will help to ensure that the mixture gets hot enough to harden.
• Turn off heat and let cool for 15-25 minutes while stirring in one direction or until thickened uniformly.
• Poor into flat pans lined with parchment paper.
• Desired thickness is less then half inch. This allows telescoping inner cover to close completely during installation.

Finished product

This feeding practice along with aggressive wintering preparations allows QCBC to be well below the state average of honey bee die offs every year. This technique can also work for the bees under your care, whether it be in your apiary or your backyard. ​

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