The natural honey bee diet consists of pollen, nectar or honey, and water. Honey is the bees' source of carbohydrates or energy supply. Proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fats are obtained from pollen. Anytime the natural food stores of a colony are low, the beekeeper must begin emergency feeding. An established colony should have at least 15 to 20 pounds of honey or the equivalent of three to four good combs of honey in reserve at all times. Most feeding is done in late winter, early spring, and possibly in the fall.

Colonies found short of food stores before late March are difficult to manage. Feeding heavy sugar syrup at this time is not normally recommended, since it places an additional stress on the clustered bees. Inversion of the sucrose and handling excess water causes problems for honey bees. Too much moisture in the bee's diet causes dysentery. Three food sources that the beekeeper may consider at this time of year are combs of honey, dry sugar, or sugar candy.

Some beekeepers save combs of honey in the fall for spring feeding. Place two or three combs of honey as near the cluster as possible without disrupting or breaking it. If you do not have combs of honey in storage, you may have to take combs from colonies with a surplus. Occasionally, such feeding practices are necessary to save a colony from starvation. In these circumstances, break the cappings on the comb to give the bees quicker access to the honey. Never feed combs of honey unless you are absolutely sure they are free of disease, particularly American foulbrood. Honey never should be purchased from other sources to feed bees. A definite advantage of feeding combs of honey is that it will not initiate robbing in the bee yard.

Dry granulated sugar may be poured around the hole of the inner cover or spread on a piece of paper above the frames. specially constructed sugar holders (rim feeders) that replace the inner cover beneath the top cover also can be used. To take full advantage of the dry sugar, colonies must be strong, temperatures warm enough so the cluster can be broken, and adequate moisture must be available. In some instances, bees will carry dry sugar out of the hive and discard it. This approach is not well suited to colonies that need food immediately to survive.

Probably the best approach to emergency feeding is to feed sugar candy made from the following recipe:

SUGAR CANDY
15 pounds sugar
3 pounds glucose or white corn syrup
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Dissolve the sugar in the water by stirring and boiling the mixture until the temperature of the syrup rises to 242°F. You must use a candy thermometer while bringing the syrup to 242°F. Let the syrup cool to I8O° F, then beat until thick. Pour the candy into molds lined with wax paper. Place a cake of sugar on two small, 1/2 inch square strips of wood in an empty super above the cluster of bees. (See Figure 30.) Cover the candy and the space around it with cloth or newspaper to keep it warm. Remove any remaining candy and feed syrup when the weather gets warm in March or April.

Figure 30. Colony being fed sugar candy in the winter over the hole in the inner cover.

Sugar syrup is the most common feed for bees when the weather permits easy movement of the cluster, occasional flights, or when the outside temperature is above 40°F. This syrup is made by dissolving either cane or beet sugar (sucrose) in water. Brown sugar, molasses, corn syrup, and other similar materials containing sugar should not be used as feed. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS or isomerized syrups) and disease-free honey from your apiary, diluted one-fourth to one-half with warm water, can be fed safely. Before April 1, feed a heavy sugar syrup made up of two parts sugar to one part hot water by volume. To make sure all the sugar dissolves, you may have to heat the water. Be careful not to burn the sugar; carmelization can be harmful to bees. Some beekeepers add 1 1/2 tablespoons of cider-vinegar to each gallon of syrup to invert the sucrose and retard crystallization. Such a mixture will not freeze at temperatures as low as -10°F. During the foraging season, cider vinegar is not normally added, and the syrup is composed of one and a half parts sugar to one part water by volume.

There are several methods and types of equipment used to feed sugar syrup to honey bee colonies. Under almost all conditions, feeding should be done inside the hive. Syrup feeding excites and stimulates the colonies being fed. When weather allows foraging, this feeding stimulus may set off robbing in the apiary, particularly in those colonies receiving the food. Spilled syrup in the bee yard also may initiate robbing.

Boardman (entrance) feeders do not work well in cool weather. The syrup gets too cold, and the bees do not come down to get it unless the weather is very warm. Colonies that need to be fed usually require larger volumes of syrup than this type of feeder can provide. The threat of robbing is also a serious problem.

An inverted pail or jar placed on the top bars of frames of the upper hive body or over the hole in the inner cover is an excellent method of feeding syrup in the spring. (See Figure 31.) This is the warmest part of the hive and it is where the bees are usually clustered. Leave part of the inner cover hole exposed so that bees can get out. Make sure the holes in the feeder are not too large; you are interested only in keeping the bees alive, not in storing large quantities of sugar syrup. Usually about six holes with the tip of a 4d nail are sufficient. To test each feeder before placing it on the hive, invert the full feeder. A small amount of syrup will run out until a vacuum forms in the container. Do not use the feeder if the syrup leaks out after the vacuum has had time to form. Protect the feeder with an empty super, cover it with several layers of burlap or newspaper, and put the hive cover on top.

Figure 31. Colony being fed syrup with feeder can over the hole of the inner cover. (Photo by W. W. Clarke, Jr.)

A division board is another widely used type of internal hive feeder. This feeder, either wood or plastic, replaces a frame inside the hive. To prevent leakage, coat the wooden feeder with wax and fill it with water to cause swelling. Add a wooden float or U-shaped piece of hardware cloth to help the bees get to the syrup without drowning. The division board feeder holds about 2 quarts of syrup and can be refilled without removing it from the hive. Some beekeepers who feed routinely leave these feeders in the hive year round.

An alternate method of feeding sugar syrup is to pour the syrup into the empty cells of a drawn comb. Turn the comb over carefully and fill both sides. Since a solid stream of syrup poured onto a comb does not penetrate the cells, use either a sprinkling can or feeder can with many holes. The combs can be filled before taking them to the apiary with little loss of syrup. After filling, give each comb a good shake over a receptacle to remove surplus syrup. Place two or three frames adjacent to the brood nest in the hive.

Feeders made of wood or plastic that cover the top of the hive work well and allow large quantities of syrup to be fed rapidly. Such feeders work best for hives on level ground.

Feeding sugar syrup early in the spring is a strong stimulus for brood rearing. Colonies quickly become dependent on this food source, so feeding must be continued until weather conditions and floral sources allow the bees to survive without supplemental feeding.

Pollen is essential for the production of larval food and for brood rearing in honey bee colonies. Inadequate pollen stores in the immediate area of the winter cluster hinder brood rearing and, therefore, the development of strong colonies, which is the key to successful beekeeping. Colonies found deficient in pollen stores early in the spring can have their pollen supplies extended by feeding either pollen supplements or substitutes early in March. A pollen supplement is a protein source that has some pollen added to it. The natural pollen attracts the bees so that they will make use of the protein source. A pollen substitute is a protein source containing all the essential nutrients for bees but no pollen.

There are several commercial pollen substitutes for honey bees. These include large portions of carbohydrates (sugars) in addition to the protein component. Supplies of natural pollen are also commercially available. However, feeding pollen from an unknown origin could be a source of disease infection. The best way to have an available source of pollen is to trap your own during the summer. It is either dried and stored in a tight container or frozen fresh.

Dry commercial supplements or substitutes often are fed in early spring; they are placed on the inner cover, just as dry sugar is fed. A more efficient way of feeding supplements/substitutes is to make up cakes with a doughlike consistency. Most pollen supplement cakes are prepared by mixing pollen and sugar together with hot water, then adding soybean flour until the mixture has a peanut butter consistency. Recipes contain about one part pollen to three parts soybean flour mixed with heavy syrup (two parts sugar to one part water by volume):

One cake
2 ounces pollen
6 ounces soybean flour
51/2 ounces water
10 1/2 ounces sugar

Thirty-two cakes
4 pounds pollen
12 pounds soybean flour
11 pounds water
21 pounds sugar

Brewer's yeast (one part to six parts soybean flour by weight), powdered skim milk (one part to four parts soybean flour), or additional soybean flour may be used as substitutes when pollen is not available. The doughlike mixture is normally pressed between two sheets of wax paper to form a patty that is 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and weighs from 1/2 to 1 pound. When in the bee yard, remove the wax paper from one side of the cake and place the cake directly over the cluster on the top bars, with the wax paper side up. Turn the inner cover upside down to make room for the cake. Add another cake every seven to ten days or before the previous one is entirely consumed. Once started, the pollen substitute, either the cake or dry material, should be available to the bees as long as natural pollen is lacking. Any interruption in the feeding of the pollen substitute may cause a setback in brood rearing. Extending the protein (pollen) supply in the colony early in the spring will be most effective in years when adverse weather conditions delay the flowering of plants and prevent bees from collecting adequate supplies of natural pollen. It also will be an effective management technique if strong colonies are needed early in the spring; for example, when splits or divisions are used to replace large winter losses, in preparation of colonies for pollination rentals, and in areas with early honey flows.