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Beekeepers who have just started working in the apiary are interested in what bees eat at different times of the year and day. This is important to know, since these insects are suppliers of a useful and beloved product - honey.
What bees love
The diet of buzzing insects is quite varied. They can eat pollen, nectar, bee bread and their own honey. The main food source of insects from spring to autumn is melliferous plants.
Bees collect pollen and nectar:
- from acacia, linden, buckwheat, alder and hazel;
- from apple trees, pears, cherries, bird cherry and other flowering trees and shrubs;
- with sunflower, dandelion, clover, lupine, rapeseed.
Many crops are planted specifically next to the apiary, taking into account the timing of flowering.
After collecting the pollen, the bee moistens it with its own saliva. Then, arriving at the hive, she deposits the collected product in a specific cell of combs. In it, the fermentation process begins, as a result of which bee bread is formed, consisting mainly of proteins.
Do bees eat their honey
The question whether the bee family eats its own product can be answered unequivocally - yes. To cover the enormous distances that worker bees travel in search of honey plants, they need enhanced nutrition. That is why insects eat at once for several days. Hungry bees simply die during the flight.
What serves as protein feed for the bee colony
Thanks to protein food, bees develop successfully, due to this, a successful brood is obtained in the spring. Protein is found in bee bread, pollen and substitutes, which are fed to the bee family in late autumn and winter.
But sometimes there is not enough bee bread until the end of wintering, which means that protein starvation may occur. Insects are given cow's milk to compensate for the lack of this substance. The protein from this natural product is easily absorbed by bees.
In early spring, when there are no flowering plants yet, worker bees feed the larvae with perga. If this substance is not enough, the development of the bee colony is suspended, the queen does not lay eggs.
Beekeepers must leave a frame with bee bread before transferring the hives to winter maintenance. If this food is not enough for bees, they have to use protein substitutes. This is especially important when there are still few flowering plants and the weather is rainy.
There are many options for preparing protein substitutes for feeding bees, each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Honey, water, pollen
It is best to use natural substitutes, which include:
- honey;
- water;
- last year's pollen.
The composition of the substitute is as follows:
- Mix 200 g of bee product, 1 kg of dry pollen, 150 ml of water.
- This mixture is laid out on a frame and covered with canvas.
- From time to time, the amount of food is replenished.
Powdered milk
If there is no bee bread, then the substitute is prepared from powdered milk. Although this composition is not as effective in quality as bee bread, it can be used to prevent the bee colony from dying from protein starvation. Prepare top dressing from:
- 800 ml of water;
- 1 kg of granulated sugar;
- 200 g milk powder.
Making food for buzzing insects is easy:
- Boil water, add granulated sugar, stir until it is completely dissolved.
- Add milk powder, stir so that there are no lumps.
What do bees eat in winter?
The main food for bees in winter is honey. In the fall, be sure to leave sealed frames in the hive.This honey, suitable for winter nutrition, should be dark. One frame should contain at least 2.5 kg of quality product.
Besides honey, bees need water. But drinking bowls cannot be installed in winter, insects will use condensate that settles on the walls of the hive. For the winter, in no case is it recommended to close the entrance tightly. In case of a lack of moisture, the worker bees will extract it outside the house.
If the summer was dry and autumn was rainy, then the insects do not have time to prepare enough food for the winter, or it will turn out to be of poor quality (it quickly crystallizes).
In such a situation, you need to think about timely feeding the bee colony. Food in this case can be:
- old honey;
- sugar syrup;
- sweet fudge;
- other nutritional supplements.
Syrup as food is given within a week, for each hive - up to 1.5 tbsp. every evening.
What does the queen bee eat?
Throughout her life, the queen bee feeds on royal jelly, and rarely uses honey and pollen. The milk contains all the essential nutrients to maintain tone and fertilization. Other food will prevent the uterus from laying the required number of eggs.
What bees feed their children
The larval worms that have just emerged from the eggs are very small, but voracious. In the first 6 days of life, one individual is able to eat 200 mg of food. The diet of the larvae depends on the status.
Future drones and worker bees feed on royal jelly for only a few days. In the future, their food will be honey, water and bee bread. Little bees are looked after by "nannies". They fly up to each larva up to 1300 times per day. The larva itself increases in size 10,000 times. On the 6th day, the cells are clogged with wax and pollen, where the future bee will grow until February.
What Happens When Bees Are Short on Food and Water
If there is enough food and water in the hive, then the bees behave calmly. It's easy to check: just hit the house and then put your ear to it. If the bees become silent, then everything is in order.
With unfriendly noise, as well as with sounds resembling a moan, it can be determined that there is no uterus in the family. In such a hive, bees may be killed; only a few will remain in it until spring.
Strong bee noise is a signal for feeding. In order not to miss the right moment, the hives after the New Year should be checked 2-3 times a month. By this time, brood begins in the hives, the temperature inside the house rises to +34 degrees.
In addition to common dressings, you can make a cake from powdered sugar and pollen. Bee families love sweet dough. To do this, take honey (1 kg), heat it in a water bath to 40-45 degrees and mix it with powdered sugar (4 kg). Bees like this food very much. But before being laid out in hives, the dough is mixed with water: 5 liters of liquid are added to 5 kg.
Food is laid out in bags, small punctures are made in them and removed to the upper part of the hive.
What beekeepers do
Bees need food and water in any season. In spring, summer and autumn, drinkers are made at each apiary, into which clean water is poured. Otherwise, insects will start drinking from dubious puddles and can bring diseases to the hive. Or they will start looking for moisture far from the hives, at a time when they need to fly for nectar and pollen.
As a rule, they equip drinking bowls with fresh and salt water (1 g of salt is required for 1 liter of water). Insects will figure out which drinking bowl to fly to.
The number of drinkers will depend on the installed hives so that the bees can get drunk at any time. The water must be changed regularly, thoroughly washed before changing the container.
Feeding for bees must be organized not only in winter and autumn, but also at any time. In autumn, winter and early spring, as long as there are no flowering plants and families are weakened after wintering.
The prepared mixtures are poured into feeders. Insects are given food in the evening.It is necessary to feed the inhabitants of the hives in the summer when, due to the intense heat, there are not enough flowering plants.
The main food of bees is natural honey, since it contains enough vitamins and nutrients, micro- and macroelements necessary for the vital activity of bees and obtaining young brood.
In winter, you need to monitor the condition of the bees, feed them so that by the spring the family remains strong and efficient. Check the frames with honey. If it has crystallized, it needs to be urgently changed. If there is old honey, then it is melted or various dressings are prepared on its basis.
Conclusion
You need to find out what bees eat at different times of the year if you want to start an apiary. Only with the correct organization of the life of beneficial insects can one hope to receive a good bribe. Natural honey is a healthy and tasty product in demand.
Sweet fondant recipe for feeding bees in winter:
