bee food (i know it's not good to give it to them but?)

Are not suppose to feed sugar to bee's because for the most part they eat nectar and honey? I was watching my bee's and i saw one that at first i thought was a wasp or those bee's that look like bee's but are wasps. I saw one of my bee's drinking from a fallen peach and it got me thinking. i always feel bad taking honey from the bee's lol guilty because i didnt do much of anything to get it. I have 15 hives spread out in groups of 3 on the property. with little basket set out for swarms. Now here are my thoughts could I blend up some fruits really a bunch of sweet ones mix it in water.. like a good well water without any "junk in the water" give it back to the bee's a little bit daily "fresh" after i take honey . I only take honey once per year from the hive and i try to Avoid opening it up. Ive got a bunch of top bars, 2 warre's and a perone hive knock off .. but changed

also I collect pollen, from pine tree's, sunflowers, and cattails maybe a bit of that mix in as well but not tons

I wouldn't bother. maybe you could leave some overripe or windfall fruit out for them to slurp up during the late summer dearth, but I would guess that most fruit juices are going to have too much dissolved solid material, which can cause dysentery in your bees. seems like doing them a favor, but they're likely better off foraging for what they need.

Trust the bees, they have been doing this for millions of years
David

David Livingston wrote:Trust the bees, they have been doing this for millions of years
David

but it's stealing.. but honey taste so good.. so i figure.... sigh lol

tel jetson wrote:I wouldn't bother. maybe you could leave some overripe or windfall fruit out for them to slurp up during the late summer dearth, but I would guess that most fruit juices are going to have too much dissolved solid material, which can cause dysentery in your bees. seems like doing them a favor, but they're likely better off foraging for what they need.

that sucks i figured id strain it and make a super juice.. that isnt super sweet but just sweet enough you know.. to get by.. as fake nectar

Our local beekeeper never feeds anything to his bees...when he takes honey he always makes sure he leaves plenty for them for the winter.

Tokunbo Popoola wrote:
that sucks i figured id strain it and make a super juice.. that isnt super sweet but just sweet enough you know.. to get by.. as fake nectar

why settle for fake nectar? if you really want to give them a boost, plant a lot of things that flower during the late summer dearth and encourage neighbors to do the same. that is, in my opinion, the best way to feed honeybees.

and they need honey. id still give em the fruit too tho.... just me.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350023/description/Bees_need_honeys_natural_pharmaceuticals

Morgan Morrigan wrote:and they need honey. id still give em the fruit too tho.... just me.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350023/description/Bees_need_honeys_natural_pharmaceuticals

Great article Morgan, thanks for sharing.

Morgan Morrigan wrote:and they need honey. id still give em the fruit too tho.... just me.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350023/description/Bees_need_honeys_natural_pharmaceuticals

kinda scary… thinking about all the things in the honey… i love honey.. we don't have maple tree's here that give tons of liquid not even worth tapping them. but that kinda made sense. since most small scale bee keepers are having less trouble with a lot of these crap and . when i pass the wild bee's in our apple tree they are TOTALLy fine been there for 20 years.. also this crap about honey bee's swarming until they have nothing left in the hive. That apple tree hive has been there since before I was born and i could name a few more like it

Tokunbo Popoola wrote:kinda scary… thinking about all the things in the honey… i love honey.. we don't have maple tree's here that give tons of liquid not even worth tapping them. but that kinda made sense. since most small scale bee keepers are having less trouble with a lot of these crap and .

most of the small-scale beekeepers I know aren't having much if any trouble. most of them started with feral swarms, though, and they largely leave the bees alone apart from an annual honey theft.

Tokunbo Popoola wrote:when i pass the wild bee's in our apple tree they are TOTALLy fine been there for 20 years.. also this crap about honey bee's swarming until they have nothing left in the hive. That apple tree hive has been there since before I was born and i could name a few more like it

not at all unusual. it's also not at all unusual for bee colonies in trees to swarm themselves down to nothing and then dwindle away. that leaves a whole lot of comb left for a new swarm to come and occupy, though, so unless a person constantly monitored a bee tree, there's no easy way to be sure that the bees there now are descended from the bees there twenty years ago.