08-26-2018, 02:52 PM
Actually, that dumping sugar over the comb is the least best desirable way of feeding bees, as this is also an invitation to just about every other sugar craving animal...
Most beekeeper that need to feed, use hive feeders & supply a nectar substitute... some will use a simple syrup, others will use a fortified nectar replacement... but dumping crystal sugar inside a hive is not a recommended method of supplementing the nutrition of bees... & anyone who would do that on anything but an emergency basis is asking for a whole slew of beekeeping problems... the only time I can even think that this might be excusable is when dealing with a catastrophic hive event in a freezing temp... & then, most likely, you are just trying to salvage as much of the population until something can be done...
& neither of these replaces the proteins that bees need from the pollen... for bees, the absolute best thing is a diverse selection of pollens & nectars... & we have that here...
Most beekeeper that need to feed, use hive feeders & supply a nectar substitute... some will use a simple syrup, others will use a fortified nectar replacement... but dumping crystal sugar inside a hive is not a recommended method of supplementing the nutrition of bees... & anyone who would do that on anything but an emergency basis is asking for a whole slew of beekeeping problems... the only time I can even think that this might be excusable is when dealing with a catastrophic hive event in a freezing temp... & then, most likely, you are just trying to salvage as much of the population until something can be done...
& neither of these replaces the proteins that bees need from the pollen... for bees, the absolute best thing is a diverse selection of pollens & nectars... & we have that here...