TODO: Add a load of images of the different feeders
Feeding a colony can be done at different stages of the year for multiple reasons. Sometimes it’s to prevent starvation, other time’s it’s to cause them to build up more quickly. This is usually based on the seasons, and we’ll explain why.
Measurements for various syrup ratios can be found on the Weights and Measurements page
Above 10ºC/50ºF average temperatures, the bees will very readily empty a 5L feeder within a week, sometimes within a handful of days.
However, when average temperatures are below 10ºC/50ºF, there are a few options, but none of them are syrup. Syrup will be too cold for the bees to use even if the daytime temperature does go above - it takes time for the syrup to warm up. They will not take it down into the hive, as consuming it will cause them to go torpid and potentially die. They will not touch it. You should only use hard feeds when temperatures are low.
Below 10ºC/50ºF, hard feeds only.
1:1 or 10:13 syrups when tempartures are above 10ºC/50ºF simulate a heavy nectar flow. It gives the colony lots of fresh nutrition to raise bounties of young. When nectar can be scarce in the early days of spring, providing them with feed tricks them into thinking the flow is heavily on, and they need a larger workforce to bring it in. This means that by the time the real flow is coming in, your workforce will be much larger the a natural colony, and raring to go.
Feeders should be empty / off before adding any supers.
1:1 or 10:13 syrups can be provided readily. Feed should not be provided whilst supers are on the hive, as this will adulterate the honey with neat syrup.
2:1 syrups are ideal for autumn. They take less time to reduce down to the desired <18% hydration, and can be readily capped over for storage. Feeding 1:1 has a tendandy to increase brood production, and going into autumn is not an ideal time for a colony to start brooding in excess.
You cannot feed syrups over winter. Hard feeds only. Hard feeds can provide the added benefit of being hydrophillic, and helping to draw unnecessary amounts of moisture out of the colony, though moisture is rarely a problem for well configured colonies over winter.
An english feeder is one that sits atop the hive, providing access through a small funnel into the feeder itself. Bees can access only a small amount of the feed so the risk of drowning is reduced. Some losses are expected in these feeders, but only minimally.
Same as english feeders, but use a different method of giving bees access to the syrup.
Bucket feeders give bees access to the syrup via surface tension. Think of the old upside-down mesh screen jar experiment you did at school - that, but full of syrup, with 60,000 bees drinking from it. Bucket feeders are capable of delivering a very good amount of feed to your colony very quickly.
Boardman, or Entrance, feeders are a complete waste of space and should be promptly thrown in the bin when you get your first hive. A colony of bees needs a minimum 4 kg of fully reduced honey per week in the height of summer. That little 1 pint of syrup you give your bees won’t even make a dent unless you’re filling it up every 12 hours. Not only this, but entrance feeders will, at some point, be sniffed out by nearby hives. Once the nearby hive catches wind of this abundant supply of sugary liquid, they will descent en masse to take everything from the feeder and your colony.
Boardman feeders are a crock of s**t and should go in the bin.
TODO: add moutain camp info
Fondant is a tacky feed made by cooking down sugar water and whipping into a paste. Making fondant at home is incredibly dangerous. The thermal capacity of sugar is astronomically high, and you should under no circumstances attempt to make fondant unless you know what you’re doing. There are far safer and more convenient ways of feeding bees when they need hard sugars.
With that said, commercially avialable fondant can be found online and is very very handy to have in stock. The bees will almost never take it down for storage, and will only consume it when they feel it’s necessary to do so. Fondant is a safe feed to use in dire straights any time of year, and makes a cracking winter feed.
Some beekeepers in our community put slabs of fondant on over winter as a failsafe, and a way of tracking winter stores. When they start digging into the fondant, you know they’re probably running low on stores.
Sugar bricks are far easier to make.
TODO: add info on how to make sugar bricks (num?)
TODO: Add info on candy boards that do not require cooking