Bees need enough stored honey to get through winter. If a colony is light going into fall, feeding sugar syrup can help them build stores. The mix you use depends on the season.
1:1 syrup: spring build-up
1:1 means one part sugar to one part water, by weight or volume. It is close to natural nectar and encourages comb building and brood rearing. Beekeepers mostly use it in spring and for new colonies.
2:1 syrup: fall stores
2:1 is two parts sugar to one part water. It is thicker, so bees spend less work drying it down to store it. This is the usual fall mix for building winter stores.
How to mix
- Use plain white cane or beet sugar. Do not use brown sugar, molasses or powdered sugar with additives.
- Warm the water to help the sugar dissolve, but do not boil the syrup.
- Let it cool before feeding.
When it's too cold for syrup
Bees can't take down and process syrup well in cold weather. Once it is regularly too cold, many beekeepers switch to solid feed like fondant, a sugar board or dry sugar placed above the cluster.
Feeding tips
- Heft the back of the hive to judge how heavy it is.
- Use an inside feeder when you can. Open feeding can start robbing.
- Reduce the entrance on weaker colonies to help them guard.
- Take honey supers off before you feed so syrup doesn't end up in your honey.
In Florida, winters are mild and bees fly on many winter days, so colonies may keep using stores all season. Check them often.
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