Why Beekeepers Feed Their Bees

One question beekeepers hear fairly often is: Why would you feed bees if they make honey?

The answer is simple. Feeding is a common beekeeping practice used to support colonies when natural food sources are limited or when the bees need extra help getting established. Honey bees normally rely on nectar and pollen from flowers, but weather, season and colony conditions can sometimes leave them without enough resources.

Helping New Colonies Get Started

A newly installed package, nucleus colony or split has a lot of work to do. The bees need to build comb, raise brood, establish food stores and grow the colony, often all at the same time.

Providing sugar syrup during this period can give the colony a dependable source of carbohydrates while it gets established. That can be especially helpful when flowers are not producing much nectar or when a new colony has very little stored honey available. Feeding doesn't replace natural forage, but it can give a young colony some breathing room while it builds strength.

Supporting Bees During Drought or Nectar Shortages

A landscape can look green and full of flowers while still producing surprisingly little nectar. Drought, extreme heat, prolonged rain and other weather conditions can reduce nectar production dramatically.

Beekeepers often call these periods a nectar dearth.

During a serious dearth, colonies may begin consuming the honey they have already stored. If those reserves become too low, a beekeeper may provide supplemental feed to help the colony through the shortage until natural forage improves. This is one of the reasons regular hive inspections matter. A beekeeper isn't just checking for a queen or looking for honey. We are also paying attention to how much food the colony has available.

Preparing for Winter

In Wisconsin, one of the most important times to evaluate food stores is late summer and fall.

Honey bees don't hibernate. They remain active inside the hive throughout winter, forming a cluster and consuming stored honey for energy. A strong colony can still struggle if it enters winter without enough food. Beekeepers therefore pay close attention to hive weight and honey stores before cold weather arrives. If a colony doesn't have sufficient reserves, supplemental feeding can help bring those stores to a safer level.

Depending on the season and temperature, beekeepers might use sugar syrup, fondant, sugar cakes or other appropriate feeds. The goal is not to replace the bees' natural diet, but to make sure the colony has enough energy to survive periods when it can't forage.

Feeding Is a Management Tool

Good beekeeping is largely about responding to what a colony needs. Sometimes that means adding more space because the bees are growing quickly. Sometimes it means managing mites or preparing the hive for winter. And sometimes it means providing food because the environment isn't giving the colony enough at that particular moment. Responsible feeding is not about trying to make bees dependent on sugar syrup. It is a tool used when circumstances make supplemental food beneficial to the health and survival of the colony.

Beekeepers also need to manage feeding carefully. Sugar syrup generally shouldn't be fed while honey supers intended for harvest are on the hive, because the goal is to ensure that the honey sold or bottled comes from floral nectar collected by the bees. At its best, supplemental feeding helps a colony through a difficult stretch so it can return to doing what honey bees do naturally: forage from flowers, raise young bees and build the stores it needs to thrive.

For beekeepers, sometimes a little help at the right moment can make a big difference.