Why Do Bees Need Feeding?
Honey bees require proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates (sugar), lipids (fatty acids, sterols), vitamins, minerals (salts), and water in their diet. These nutrients must be present in specific qualitative and quantitative proportions to ensure optimal nutrition.
Beekeepers feed colonies to maintain optimal population levels for nectar collection, crop pollination, spring/summer splits, queen rearing, and proper overwintering. More recently, supplemental feeding is also used to compensate for damage caused by pesticide use in modern agriculture.
Proteins and Amino Acids
Worker bees aged 1 to 14 days consume proteins from pollen collected by foragers. Bees aged 1 to 8 days obtain protein from food produced by young bees — a mix of glandular secretions, pollen, and honey. Larvae and the queen receive proteins from royal jelly secreted by nurse bees aged 5 to 15 days.
Although the precise percentage of amino acids and proteins required for brood and queen development is unknown, the chemical composition of royal jelly is well documented. During the first 5–6 days, bees consume large amounts of pollen to ensure proper development. Without sufficient protein, their glands fail to develop fully. Royal jelly and pollen support adequate growth. Nutritional needs for this type of diet decrease between days 10 and 14. After that, bees rely on nectar-based honey for essential nutrients.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are common in the natural diet of bees and serve as the main energy source. Bees can digest glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, trehalose, and melezitose. They cannot digest or tolerate rhamnose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, mannose, lactose, raffinose, dextrin, or inulin. These may even be toxic. Digestive differences between larvae and adults stem from enzyme availability.
Vitamins
Vitamins are naturally present in honey and essential for bee health. When producing royal jelly for young larvae and the queen, bees need a vitamin-rich diet. For high-quality brood rearing, bees require vitamin C and B-complex vitamins: thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), pantothenic acid (B5), folic acid (B9), and biotin (B7).
Water
Bees use water to dilute thick honey, regulate humidity in the hive, and maintain brood temperature. The amount needed depends on external temperatures, humidity, colony strength, and the amount of brood present. Water sources should offer partial shade to prevent overheating.
Minerals
Bees, like other animals, require minerals such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, phosphorus, iron, copper, iodine, manganese, cobalt, zinc, and nickel. Pollen collected by bees contains these essential minerals, which are necessary for proper development.
Supplemental Bee Feeding
In early spring, when nectar and pollen are unavailable or insufficient, and during periods of low nectar flow, quality supplemental feeding supports colony survival and development. When nectar and pollen intake decreases, the queen reduces egg laying, which may lead to population decline. Even with sufficient honey stores, this occurs during droughts or prolonged rainfall.
Protein Supplements
Humans have long sought to replace natural pollen with plant- or animal-based protein sources. Though many protein-rich foods exist, none fully replace natural flower pollen. However, some supplements can support colony development during forage shortages.
Soy flour and brewer's yeast, alone or combined, provide protein, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, and minerals essential for colony health. These can be offered as patties or dry powder inside feeders. When natural intake is lacking, these act as artificial feed.
Use of Sugar in Bee Feeding
Sugar use depends on cost and availability. Sucrose syrups from sugarcane or sugar beet, when mixed with protein, form stable patties. These can also be made with honey, which is ideal but more expensive. Honey use also carries a disease risk, which sugar syrups avoid.
Adding 10–12% pollen to patties or syrup increases nutritional quality. Never use honey or pollen from diseased colonies, as this can weaken or destroy hives.
Medication in Feed
Medications for digestive issues or disease control may be added to feed if needed. Never medicate production colonies less than 5 weeks before major nectar flows. Preventive treatments for Nosema may be added to patties, syrups, or pure pollen.
Carbohydrate Supplements
With proper management, bees will always have enough food regardless of season or nectar flow. During poor weather, the beekeeper may need to step in. Rearing young bees requires constant food availability. Syrups made from sugar beet, sugarcane, or liquid glucose are acceptable substitutes when needed.
Feeding Precautions
- Feed late in the day to reduce robbing
- Reduce hive entrance size
- Minimize disturbance
Feeding Dry Sugar
Dry sugar is used in late winter when syrup feeding is too early. It is placed on an inverted lid or directly on the top bars. Robbing is much less likely than with syrup feeding.
Water Supply for the Colony
Bees must always have access to fresh water. Lack of water negatively affects behavior, nutrition, physiology, and brood rearing. Regardless of nearby natural sources, modern apiaries must provide sanitary water sources. Colonies with reliable access to food and water are consistently healthier and stronger.
Source: pcelarstvo.hr