Can Sugary Syrup Strengthen Beehives?

Many beekeepers initially avoid supplementing their beehives’ natural collection process because they believe it may interfere with and disrupt bee behaviors. However, some who begin with the au natural mindset may change their thinking if a hive is struggling or hives exist in extreme conditions. Some beekeepers choose to add sugary syrup and other concoctions to ensure bees have plenty of food, keeping the hive healthy and less vulnerable to disease and other threats.

Following the Natural Pattern of Pollination

What used to be sufficient natural sources for bees to collect pollen no longer seem to be enough. Many beekeepers in California find that droughts can significantly reduce the number and diversity of blooms from which bees can gather the resources they need to survive. Although pesticides and disease do impact beehive health, extreme weather and sustained droughts may be the larger culprits. Summer droughts can drag on endlessly, and rain dries up earlier and lingers longer. In California, the drought season can seem unbearable when trying to keep hives thriving. Beekeepers may decide to supplement sugary syrup to provide bees with what they need and increase the likelihood of their survival and honey production.

Beekeepers who choose to supplement or use stimulation feeding for their hives aim to follow natural pollination, meaning they supplement only after almond pollination and only during prolonged droughts or other periods when collection sources are scarce.

Additional Costs of Supplementing

Beekeepers with more hives may incur high costs when supplementing their hives. One can’t supplement some and not others, so feeding hundreds of hives, or more, can be a financial obligation. However, offering sugary syrup to a struggling hive often yields immediate results. Colonies that are lagging turn around, and bees become busier, and the amount of honey produced experiences an equal return.

Once You Start, It Is Hard to Stop

Once beekeepers begin supplementing and see the results, they may be lured into thinking it must be done every year. Although adding sugary syrup to the bees’ diets may yield favorable results, it can also make them accustomed to this generous gift season after season. This decision has to be beekeeper-by-beekeeper because it involves a financial and time commitment that differs when bees are left to their own natural tendencies and coping mechanisms. Some beekeepers may choose to use it more sparingly rather than as an anticipated and regular occurrence in their apiaries.

Southern California Weather

Although Southern California had seven straight days of rain this month, this good soak and stored water won’t last. As spring turns to summer, the state becomes dry and enters severe drought conditions. Bees require only a few things, including water and food sources, which they obtain through rigorous pollen collection. No water means fewer blooms and fewer collection options. Beekeeping in Southern California is a unique experience because the climate is one of the mildest in the nation. However, beekeepers still need to make those decisions for their specific situation. The number of hives, the location, and the resources available are all factors in the sustainable assistance a beekeeper can provide. A seasoned beekeeper is adaptable like their bees and must have an open mind to do what is best for their bees.

Relying on the Expert Beekeepers

Seasoned beekeepers are worth their weight in gold because of what they can share with others and the insight they have into regional bee behaviors, challenges, and solutions that have worked. Expert beekeepers always step in when bees are displaced, whether from a truck that overturned while transporting bees, a swarm or hive that had to be removed from a home, or an electrical box in the area. Beekeepers are only in it for the bees, and this mindset is growing in California. Recognizing the significant contribution of bees that start in California's almond groves, which kick off the pollination process year after year. Additionally, California law protects several bee species under the Endangered Species Act.