Springtime is coming. The honeybees are flying on warm winter days, getting ready for the busy time of spring. But are your honeybees ready for the hard work ahead?
Your honeybees are beginning to increase brood production. The queen bee is laying more eggs, and soon the baby bees will be hatching. If your hive does not have enough food, your bees could be in trouble.
So, go check each beehive. You can heft each one to see if the beehive is the proper weight. If you think a beehive is too light, then you will want to give them something to eat.
If you are overwintering Warre Hives, each hive should weigh at least 26 pounds (12 kg). If you hive is lighter than that, you probably need to feed your beehives.
I don’t heft. I just feed all my beehives. I am a lazy smart beekeeper. 
Here is what you should feed your bees:
- Feed your bees honey, if you have some. Just put it out in a dish, or bucket. Maybe add some sticks for the honeybees to stand on. When feeding honey, never use store bought honey! Store bought honey can contain contaminants and is often heat treated. Use your own honey or honey from a local beekeeper.
- If the weather has changed in your area, you can feed your honeybees some sugar water. Just mix about 1/3 sugar to 2/3 water. You can also feed about 1/2 water and 1/2 sugar if you want a stronger feed mix. Only feed sugar if spring has really sprung.
Just keep in mind that sugar water is not very healthy for your bees compared to honey. Also, do not feed sugar if it is still cold and wintery in your area. Doing so could cause dysentery.
I put out some of my own honey for my bees. They are really enjoying the tasty winter treat. You can see them buzzing their thanks in the video above.
P.S. Thanks to my friend Robin for some extra tips I used in this post!
16 responses so far ↓
iosif // February 19, 2009 at 11:52 am |
Hi,
Firstly I must congratulate you for this blog.
Secondly I fear that by putting honey in front of the hive robbing might occur, that is you might feed the bees of an apiary close to yours, or the stronger families might attack the weaker ones. Warre designed some kind of feeder. You don’t use it?
Nick // February 19, 2009 at 12:55 pm |
iosif – Thanks for your comment. Yes, Warre did design a hive feeder for the Warre Hive. It fits nicely under the quilt. However, I don’t use it when I am spring feeding since I don’t want to disturb my beehives.
I’ve never had a problem with hive robbing in the early spring. My bees will definitely rob honey in the early summer…but not in the early spring.
iosif // February 19, 2009 at 10:14 pm |
Thank you for you answer. I hope your right because I’m going to do just that: put honey in front of the beehive. In the end it is much more easy for the beekeeper and also more natural for the bee, because it resembles a natural nectar harvest. Would it be good for the brood to add some protein (pollen) to the honey?
Nick // February 24, 2009 at 6:15 pm |
iosif – Yes, pollen is good for the brood. However, it may be better to feed pollen separately instead of mixing it with the honey.
Dave // March 1, 2009 at 11:04 pm |
Hi, Great site. I’m glad I finally found it. This will bee my first time raising bees. I built 2 horizontal tbh’s, then discover the Warre hive, so now I’m going to build 2 of them. I’ll be getting four 4-pound packages on April 1, I don’t have any honey or pollen, so would you suggest using pollen patties from say Dadant or Kelly’s and feeding sugar water.
Thanks, Dave
Nick // March 4, 2009 at 9:48 am |
Dave – Sure, you can use pollen patties and sugar water. I prefer not to, but if your bees need food, by all means feed.
John // March 4, 2009 at 12:42 am |
Nick, Warre also designed a feeder which sits on the floor under the hive boxes (page 62 Of Beekeeping for All) It is like a small drawer which can be inserted in the back of the hive. This will prevent any robbing and protect honey and bees if the spring weather turns inclement. More importantly it prevents us releasing heat from the hive
Nick // March 4, 2009 at 10:07 am |
John – Ah, I had forgotten the Spring Feeder! Thank you for reminding me. Time for a new blog post.
Rick // May 12, 2009 at 4:30 pm |
Hi, nice blog.
Had a question about sustainable practices and using sugar. Can bees simply survive on their own if the beekeeper only removes a small amount of honey? I’m hoping to not use sugar water come next spring.
Nick // May 28, 2009 at 9:19 pm |
Rick – Thanks for your compliment. Yes, you can leave the majority of honey on your beehive from year to year. If they have built up enough stores, they will be able to make it through the winter. The bees will thank you for not using sugar water! I don’t use sugar water myself, only honey. And I like to leave a lot of honey on my beehives to ensure winter survival.
Rick // May 28, 2009 at 10:09 pm |
I’ve learned so much in the past few weeks and my hive is doing very well. My plans are to not do anything with them to protect them from anything. It’s completely up to them. Just like it would be in the wild. I simply provide the home and protection from animals. No feeding, no wrapping and no chemicals to prevent pests. It’s going to be them that makes a go of it.
Hope I don’t regret this, but I don’t think I will.
Thanks again for the great blog.
Nick // May 28, 2009 at 10:59 pm |
Rick – That sounds like a great approach! I would suggest you might want to wrap your hives if you have very cold winters. Hive wood is thinner than a tree or stump, so you may want that extra insulation if you live towards the north.
And your very welcome!
Warren // November 29, 2009 at 10:49 am |
Nick: I have a newly started hive just a few months old. I am tring to do the best for the the bee’s, however I fear it is not enough for my limited knowledge. I have been fedding them sugar water. Now it seems they are doing battle with robbers on a daily basis. I have reduced the enterance to a very small opening but feel my bee’s need more help. What can I do. HELP!
Nicki Penaluna // February 16, 2010 at 12:40 am |
I am also very new to beekeeping, but I have spent the Winter reading so hope I am ready for the spring! I was given my hive by a friend who became allergic to stings. They have been in the main brood box for two years with no intervention. Should I be encouraging them to move to a new box this spring- ie by putting a new box underneath and letting them move down. I have six empty, new, national hives. My husband got very enthusiastic last summer and built them for me. I would like to change to Warré or TBH but don’t want to waste all these boxes! Would it be possible to put top bars on these hives. They are smaller internal dimentions than the national because my husband used thicker wood for insulation. However they are not as small as the Warré. But the internal dimentions of Phil Chandler’s TBH is much larger. We can only fit 9 standard frames in. My husband can adapt the top to take top bars – and he can make the bars. I’d love some feedback on this from someone with a bit more experience. I have a lovely strong colony and don’t want to mess them up. I’d also like to increase to maybe three or four hives. We have lots of swarms around here but not that many backyard beekeepers. Most are commercial and don’t speak English. And of course totally committed to frames and chemicals!!!
Mikell Callahan (Calmiki) // February 16, 2010 at 7:28 pm |
Hi Nicki, etc. Since my last posting My bees have come through so far and are out now gathering pollen. One hive was (is )not as strong. We moved it, hopefully using correct techniques and bees are flying on nice days but not in great numbers and not yet bringing in pollen. Maybe they are orienting. I am feeding two sugar to one water syrup but they are not taking much yet. But it is there in case. I put it in empty hive box on top of clothe (hole in clothe to accommodate) and pack the empty box with hay. We modified our Warre rooves for bigger eaves to prevent rain encroachment (terrible rainy winter here, but warm). I have the feeling that the Warre hive curtails the success of varroa mites. I am ordering another package of bees in case my weaker hive fails. Good luck to all. Calmiki. Denman Island B.C. where it is currently about 10-12 degrees c. (50-52 F.)
Nicki Penaluna // February 18, 2010 at 12:25 pm |
Just had a quick peek into the top box on my hive today as the bees were flying and very occupied with a little treat of their honey from last Summer.
The super I left for them in the Autumn was still full of capped honey and the bees were moving about over it oblivious to my interruption. All looks well with my bees