Breeding and caring for bees is a responsible and time-consuming process. After the summer season, the owner of the hives should worry about the condition of insects and food supplies. For successful wintering, bees need to be fed in the fall. This procedure will help maintain the maximum number of individuals in families during the cold season with good health and strength for the future departure.
Preparing bees for the winter
After the summer season, the owner of the hives needs to conduct a family audit. How to prepare bees for winter? To do this, he must calculate the age of the uterus and the number of brood. These data will help him determine the need for additional activities to prepare bee families for wintering.
If the farm has evidence with insects of different "strengths", then bees must be fed with sugar syrup, because the stocks of natural honey usually go to weak families.
When all kinds of diseases are found in insects, evidence is necessarily treated with special veterinary drugs. Thus, before the onset of cold weather, families will be able to restore their health and get stronger. Also, the necessary drugs are added to top dressing.
Is top dressing necessary?
In winter, bees experience two phases of life and development. The first half of this time of year is completely calm and quiet in the evidence. During this period, insects practically do not move in nests and do not eat food. They are gaining strength and energy for the next stage.
The situation is completely changing in the bee family with the advent of brood. At this time, insects begin to be active:
- feed brood;
- maintain a certain temperature at the place of the brood;
- regulate humidity.
In connection with such a stormy activity, they spend a large amount of energy, which must be restored with the help of food. Therefore, the autumn feeding of bees with sugar syrup can help families spend high-quality brood.
The optimal time for the process of harvesting and using sugar syrup
Experienced beekeepers were divided. Some believe that top dressing can be done at the end of autumn, while others insist on the spring version of the use of syrup. When to start feeding bees for the winter?
Nevertheless, it is believed that it is better to carry out this process in late August and early September. The bees' years at this time noticeably decrease and the period of the bribe ends. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that there are no flowering plants near the hives. Otherwise, the bees will fly out to these flowers, and not process sugar syrup.
In the southern regions of the country, bees can be fed with sugar syrup for the winter until October 5-10. Here, at this time, the average daily temperature is still above 10 0 . In other parts of the country, it is best to complete this process before September 15-20.
Late feeding does not allow insects to completely process the feed before the birth of the offspring. And in the process of feeding, young individuals should not participate in any case. This occupation will simply destroy them. The main task in the winter time of the new generation of bees is to gain strength and energy for the spring-summer season. Such insects simply wait for the cold period in comfortable conditions.
Late brood delays the first departures of young growth. This leads to the fact that insects begin to empty their cells. And the bees do not use such places for harvesting honey. Thus, in the next season, the collection of nectar and its processing into honey can be significantly reduced, as well as individuals can become infected with a bacterial infection.
Insects process syrup to feed the bees for approximately 14 days. During this period, the temperature in the street is extremely important. If this process is carried out in the spring, then the process of uterus scarification can be accelerated, which will lead to the loss of a large number of insects.
How to achieve the processing of sugar syrup first and the correct calculation of its quantity
To do this, before carrying out work on top dressing, you need to place two empty frames inside the hive. Thus, the processed syrup insects will be placed in these honeycombs. According to the way the bees begin to absorb food from the middle of the hive. Then, closer to the spring, they will move to the side of the honeycombs, where there will be stocks of natural honey.
Feeding bees for the winter with sugar syrup should be carried out in a certain amount. Calculating the right weight is quite simple. To do this, you need to determine the total amount of food for the whole winter for one family. According to the estimates of experienced beekeepers, 3,000 insects (one small street of the frame) need 2 kg of honey.
According to the rules of beekeeping, the main part should be natural feed. This is the honey that bees harvest. The owner of the evidence at the end of the season leaves him on the frame. It contains all the necessary substances for the life of insects.
Honey, which insects will make from sugar syrup, can make up 30% of the total feed. It is worth paying attention that the calculation is made from the mass of sugar, and not from the weight of the syrup. This means that 1 kg of honey bees are produced from the same amount of sugar, and not a ready-made sweet solution.
Features of the preparation of syrup
In the fall, individuals should not spend a lot of energy on the process of splitting complex polysaccharides into monosaccharides. Also, they should not spend much time sealing the honeycombs. To do this, feeding bees for the winter with sugar syrup should be carried out strictly according to the schedule in compliance with the exact proportions of the components in the preparation of the solution.
Sugar can beet and cane. It should not have impurities in its composition. Water for making syrup must be purified. It needs to be boiled and defended for several days. In the container with water during this time, a precipitate forms, which necessarily merges.
If sugar has absorbed a lot of moisture during storage, then the finished syrup is boiled for 10-15 minutes. Thus, it will be possible to avoid infection of bees with fungal diseases. Boiling syrup is strictly prohibited. You also need to strictly monitor that it does not burn, otherwise the insects will not be able to process it.
You need to prepare syrup in an enameled bowl. It should be thick. To process a liquid sweet solution, the bees spend a lot of energy and enter the weakened wintering regime. This will affect their health and quality of honey in the next season.
The composition of the syrup for feeding bees for the winter
Beekeepers have tried many different recipes for fertilizing. Now we use proven and high-quality compounds:
- The most optimal ratio is 3 (sugar): 2 (water). Thus, 60% sugar in syrup is obtained. For example, to prepare 10 liters of finished food you need to take 6 kg of sugar and 4 liters of water. In order not to crystallize, acetic acid is added to the mixture in the proportion of 0.3 ml per 1 kg of sugar. This ingredient has a good effect on the quality of wintering bees. They have a more developed fat body, and in spring they give an excellent brood.
- It is possible to increase the immunity of insects with the help of cobalt supplementation. This component favorably affects young growth. Bees increase their resistance to diseases and in the spring they fly off with good strength. You can buy this component in a pharmacy. There, the substance is sold in the form of cobalt chloride tablets . It is enough to add such 2 tablets to 2 liters of the finished syrup.
- Processed syrup honey does not have enough nutrients for bees. To make the composition as close as possible to natural, cow’s milk is added to the sugar solution. Thus, bees can use 76% of the required nutrients. To prepare such a syrup, you need to take 20% less water. After cooling the finished syrup to 45 0, you need to add milk in the amount of water that is missing to the proportion. So, to prepare 10 liters of syrup, you need to use 3.2 liters of water and 0.8 liters of milk. Such a solution is fed into the hive in a warm state.
- Baker's yeast is often used in cooking recipes. In this case, the syrup is cooked in a ratio of 1: 1. For 10 liters, you need to take 250 g of pressed yeast. They need to be ground in half liters of the finished syrup and then added to the whole solution, mixing well. Such feeding of bees for the winter with sugar syrup will provide insects with a sufficient amount of trace elements and vitamins. When using dry yeast, they should be soaked in advance at the rate of 12 g per 1 liter of finished syrup.
- To avoid nosematosis, you need to add "Fumagillin" in the syrup at the rate of 250 ml per 12.5 liters of finished feed. The medicine must be diluted in pure water before use.
- To protect the hives from ticks, a small amount of needles must be added to the dressing. Also, such an additive will provide families with additional vitamins and give the solution a pleasant smell.
- You can replenish protein in the diet of bees with the help of a chicken egg. To do this, beat the egg well with a whisk or mixer and strain it through cheesecloth. The ingredient must be added to the finished syrup. For 1 family of bees, 1 pc will be enough.
All additional ingredients are added to the cooled syrup. Ready food can not be boiled and overheated. If necessary, boil the finished syrup, you need to periodically remove it from the heat before boiling.
Syrup preparation
Water in the required quantity is settled in advance. Then it is brought to a boil in an enameled bowl and set aside from the fire. Only in this case the necessary amount of sugar is added and thoroughly mixed.
When using a liter can to measure the amount of ingredients, you must not forget that only 800 g of bulk solids are placed in it. After complete dissolution of the sugar, the syrup is allowed to cool to 40 0 .
Now you can add the necessary additional components to the feed to increase the amount of vitamins and minerals. Also, in the finished mixture, you can pour natural honey in an amount of 10% of the total amount of solution.
Bees seal honey from syrup in a honeycomb, process it, reduce or add the necessary amount of water. Therefore, you need to carefully prepare sugar syrup for bees. Proportions of 3: 2 must be clearly observed. So, it turns out the syrup with optimal density, and its insects can easily be processed into sugar honey and not spend extra energy.
How to carry out the feeding process
It is important not only to correctly prepare the syrup, but also to distribute it correctly. Otherwise, all preparations will be in vain. An experienced beekeeper knows exactly the time and amount of feeding bees for the winter for his farm. Young hosts should become familiar with the main ways. Bees are fed sugar syrup:
- small quantities at a time (up to 1 liter);
- in large quantities (1-3 liters).
The first method is more acceptable and justified. In small doses, bees process sugar syrup into honey faster and better. The enzyme produced for the breakdown of sugars (invertase) is enough in sufficient quantities for the entire portion of feeding.
The second method can be used subject to a large and strong family. Also, it is relevant subject to a good brood in the hive. Feeding bees for the winter with sugar syrup takes place with the help of upper feeders and sometimes side. Empty cells are removed from hives in advance. From the upper feeders, insects quickly take the syrup and process it, because it cools more slowly there.
Autumn feeding of bees with sugar syrup is done in the evening. Drops of sweet solution should not fall on the walls of the hive or on the ground around it. Otherwise, the bees will fly out and perform additional collection actions, and the feed will not be processed.
Which packaging should be used?
Sugar syrup for bees (the proportions must be strictly observed) can be placed in the hive in several ways:
- ceiling or side feeders, which are covered with bridges made of wood or straw, to avoid immersion of insects in syrup;
- 3 liter cans;
- packing bags;
- filling empty honeycombs.
In small farms, improvised devices are often used when autumn feeding of bees with sugar syrup is performed. So, the prepared mixture is placed in a 3-liter jar, in which then the neck is covered with gauze folded in several layers. The can is turned upside down and placed in the upper sections of the hives. Syrup must not leak from the container. Bees suck feed through gauze protection.
Using feed bags
The cheapest and most convenient way is the use of top-up packaging bags. They differ from polyethylene in greater strength and the presence of microscopic pores, which make it possible to spread the smell of syrup well throughout the hive. Thus, you do not have to pierce the packages yourself.
With such a container, the bees will spend a minimum amount of energy on puncture the packages, and the sugar solution will not drip on the walls and floor of the hive. This method is often described by many professionals in the beekeeping section. Feeding bees for the winter with the help of packages takes a minimum of time and physical effort.
Packages are filled with ready-made syrup and tied. They fold in the evening on the upper frames carefully so as not to press down the bees. This design is insulated and closed. Within a few days, the bees will completely take up the fertilizing and will process it.
So that insects do not refuse to take food in this way, it is necessary to add a little natural honey to the syrup for a smell. This method is considered the most common and convenient.