Emergency Feeding

Even though honey bee pests and pathogens draw beekeepers’ attention, the greatest killer of honey bee colonies has always been starvation. American foulbrood is dreaded because the bacterial brood disease is so easily spread, and its reproductive spores are extremely resilient. Parasitic mites have a history of decimating honey bee colonies since their arrival in the mid-1980s. The Varroa mite adds to the weakening of colonies by vectoring numerous honey bee viruses. The most recent strain of Nosema disease also weakens colonies, particularly when combined with other pathogens. Chemicals used inside bee hives to fight honey bee diseases and parasitic mites as well as environmental pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides combine with deadly toxic effects on honey bees.

A mild winter may, surprisingly, bring more honey bee colony losses than a cold winter. More managed honey bee colonies are lost each year to starvation than to any honey bee disease. It’s the middle of the winter, but the Mid-South has not experienced exceptionally cold weather. The mild temperatures have actually placed a considerable strain on honey bee food stores. On a number of days the weather has been warm enough for the bees to fly from their hives. The bees expended more energy searching for food than they would have consumed had they remained clustered in the hive under colder conditions. Any feeding of honey bees in the winter is considered emergency feeding. At this time of the year, feeding dry sugar is usually preferred. Granulated sugar can be placed on a sheet of newspaper atop the top bars of hive frames holding the winter cluster of bees. Sprinkling the sugar with a very small amount of water holds the sugar in place. Another simple method of applying emergency food involves pouring granulated sugar atop the hive’s inner cover as in today’s photo. The bees access the sugar through the center hole in the inner cover when the hive is warm enough for bees to break out of their winter cluster.

--Richard

Emergency Feeding

Every honey bee colony is different from each other colony. Even if managed in a similar manner, each colony will perform differently. The performance of a colony is determined by a number of factors. Among the factors are the genetic make-up of the bees, the age of the queen, how well the queen was mated, the quality of drones in the area, the health of the bees, the physical condition of the hive, the location of the bee yard, the amount of forage available, the weather, the amount of honey that is harvested, pests that are attacking the colony, and other stresses that the beekeeper places upon the bees. To measure the performance of the different colonies, at Peace Bee Farm we continuously evaluate the bees. In great part, we are evaluating the quality of the queen; as her characteristics greatly affect the entire colony. We make this evaluation by carrying a clipboard into the bee yard and scoring each colony in a number of categories. The first of these is the colony’s success in surviving the winter.

Each measure of the colony is actually an after-the-fact evaluation of how the colony responds to a number of situations. Over-winter survival is determined in part on the genetic traits of the colony. Was the colony healthy the previous fall? Did the queen produce brood into the fall? Was the colony prone to tracheal mites? Does the colony exhibit hygienic behavior? Over-winter survival is also determined by at least as many factors that are the result of the beekeeper’s efforts. Did the beekeeper help control Varroa mites? Did he provide ventilation of the hive? Did he leave adequate stores of honey? Was the stored honey in the proper location within the hive? Did the beekeeper take steps to control Nosema disease? Did the beekeeper provide emergency feeding if necessary? Today’s picture shows Big Dan Newton’s bees breaking from their winter cluster to feed on dry sugar, used as an emergency feeding.
--Richard