Christmas Bee Food Check
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Some of my honey bees on their winter sugar cakes. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
Christmas Bee Food Check
It was 62F and sunny on Christmas Day, December 25, 2021 in mid-Missouri when I checked my hives for their honey levels. The weather has been so mild so far this winter that they are consuming larger quantities of honey than if the temperatures were lower and keeping them clustered inside the hive.
Bees produce honey for winter food. This year, though, they had a good spring but summer and fall without food sources so they consumed much of their spring stored honey.
To make sure my bees don’t run out of food this winter, I make sugar cakes that I add to the top of the hive in a feeding shim. Once they work through their honey, they find the sugar as supplemental food.
These are the pre-made, stored sugar cakes ready to add to the hives. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
I use fruit clam shells to shape, and store, the sugar cakes prior to using.
One of the benefits of adding sugar cakes is that the sugar will absorb moisture should the hives get wet inside.
A spray of water helps to keep the sugar cakes moist and accessible. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
On the other hand, if the conditions remain dry, the sugar cakes can also dry out, leaving the sugar inaccessible to the bees. I carry a spray bottle with water with me and spray the existing sugar cakes, as well as the ones I add, so the bees can better reach the sugar.
One more tip when checking on sugar cakes.
Check the sugar cake underside, bees will eat or remove that sugar first. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
It’s easy to glance into the hive and see the length of a sugar cake and say they have enough food. Take time to turn it over and see if they have left a shell of a sugar cake or still actually have food. Bees will approach the sugar cake underneath, eating their way through the cake and leaving only a shell. You want them to have a good supply of supplemental food, not just the remnants of the last sugar cake.
The forecast is calling for colder temperatures in a week or so. That will cut down on the amount of honey bees are consuming and keep them home instead of flying around the garden. As much as i like to see them, i don’t want them running out of food!
