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[Old Speckled Hen]

What do bees do with sugar solution? Eat store both?

Why do we feed them 2 strengths depending on time of year?

If they eat it then it should be weak, like nectar? But then if they are storing it as well there is a lot of energy put into concentrating it.

If they store it then should it be stronger so there is less work involved evaporating the water off?

Why can you not just feed a stronger solution any time?

I just can't get a straightforward answer to this from my beekeeping course.

Can any body help?

[Toots]

I am sure that someone will com along and correct me but

 

you feed different strengths for different reasons weak soloution will stimulate the queen into laying and can easily be used by the bees as an energy source, e.g when they are building out comb. i.e. spring

 

stronger soloutions are fed when you are getting ready to over winter and it will be stored. there is less water that will need to be evaporated and so less energy wasted at the end of the year.

 

Over the winter you can feed fondant which has almost no water and so will not ferment and the bees can use it as and when.

 

like i said someone will help correct and fill in the missing questions

[Old Speckled Hen]

Thanks. I know all this but was wondering what the rationale was especially regarding early spring feeding, when the colony is small. I've looked at hives and seen some of this weak solution has been stored. So it seems to me that we might consider that WHENEVER a hive NEEDS feeding we should give it the stronger solution. Why should a weaker solution be more effective in stimulating laying?

[chickenanne]

I think that this is becuase they can take it down and store it immediately, and it is closer to nectar (although the concentration of sugars in nectar also varies). Because it's more like nectar it makes the bees "feel" that there is a flow.

For example, a 1:1 sugar syrup would be 50% sugar - this is what most would feed with in the spring. Dandelion nectar is (accoding to my old course notes) also about 50% sugars (not the same sugars).

 

Hopefully someone will come and correct me if I'm way off beam!

[Toots]

I think alont the same lines chickenanne

 

because it is a similar strength to nectar it "tricks" the queen into thinking that there is plenty coming in and she can and should lay more.

[Guest]

Fairly simple explanation. Bees need water for brooding larvae in the spring. If it is in the feed they do not need to go collecing it when it may not be too warm outside. Worker larvae are normally fed, after the initial couple of days or three, on a mixture of nectar (carbohydrate in water) and pollen (protein) for rapid growth. The larvae still contain a lot of water as well. It doesn't just materialise, it hs to be collected (or supplied). Limit one of those three components and brooding will be curtailed if occuring at a too-high a rate, and deferred if not yet started at all. The other component for brooding is, of course warmth.

 

Nothing secretive or mysterious. Just simple biological requirements.

 

RAB

[Old Speckled Hen]

Thanks Rab,

a very succinct and understandable explanation