Honey bee colonies require substantial food reserves to survive the cold months when natural forage is unavailable. Winter feeding supplements the colony’s stored honey to prevent starvation, especially when temperatures drop low enough that bees cannot break their tight winter cluster to access perimeter stores. While the bees’ own honey is the preferred food source, supplemental feeding provides insurance against unforeseen food shortages. This feeding is a management tool, not a replacement for ensuring the hive has sufficient natural honey stores before winter begins.
Essential Types of Supplemental Feed
The primary nutritional need for a clustered colony in deep winter is carbohydrates, which they use to generate metabolic heat. Solid sugar preparations are the most reliable carbohydrate source for intervention feeding during the coldest months because they introduce minimal moisture into the hive atmosphere. Excess moisture can be detrimental to the cluster and can lead to dysentery.
Fondant and candy boards are highly recommended solid feeds consisting primarily of sucrose, a pure sugar that bees easily metabolize. Fondant is a soft sugar paste, while a candy board is a hardened block of sugar placed directly over the frames. Both provide a readily accessible, dry energy source that bees can consume without having to break cluster to travel far for liquid food. The low moisture content of these solid feeds helps prevent chilling and reduces the risk of dysentery, a digestive disorder caused by holding waste due to cold.
Protein supplementation, typically a pollen substitute patty, serves a different purpose than carbohydrate feed. These patties contain proteins, lipids, and vitamins necessary for nurse bees to produce royal jelly and feed developing larvae. Providing protein is generally not necessary during the coldest part of winter when the colony minimizes brood rearing. Pollen substitutes are best introduced in late winter or early spring to stimulate the queen to increase egg laying in preparation for the spring nectar flow.
Safe Delivery Methods for Cold Temperatures
The physical placement of supplemental feed is important when temperatures are low. Bees form a tight, heat-generating cluster and will not travel far from this central area when the outside temperature is below 50°F (10°C). Therefore, all emergency winter feed must be delivered via a top-feeding method, placing the food directly above the cluster on the top bars of the uppermost box.
Liquid sugar syrup is generally unsuitable for deep winter feeding because it can chill the bees or ferment in cold conditions. Bees must also expend energy to evaporate excess water from the syrup, which is difficult inside a cold hive. Therefore, dry or solid feeding methods, such as fondant patties or candy boards, are preferred for the coldest months.
A common method involves placing a solid sugar block or patty directly over the inner cover’s opening or on the top bars. If using dry, granulated sugar, it can be spread over a sheet of newspaper placed on the top frames, known as the Mountain Camp Method. When using a sugar board, the bees access the food from below, and condensation inside the hive can slightly liquefy the sugar, making it easier to consume.
Timing Considerations for Winter Feeding
The process of provisioning a colony for winter begins well before the first frost. Initial feeding should occur in the fall, typically in late August or September, allowing bees time to process and store the syrup before cold weather arrives. For fall store-building, a heavy sugar syrup mixed at a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water is recommended, as this thick consistency requires less effort for the bees to cure and cap. This preventative feeding must be completed before temperatures drop below 50°F (10°C), when bees typically stop flying and processing liquid feed becomes impractical.
Intervention feeding during deep winter is a response to suspected starvation and should only be done quickly, preferably during a mild spell above 40°F (4.5°C). Non-intrusive checks, such as lifting the back of the hive to gauge its weight, indicate if stores are low and if emergency solid feeding is needed. The goal of mid-winter intervention is survival, not colony growth, so only solid carbohydrate feed should be used.
A shift in feeding strategy occurs in late winter and early spring to stimulate the colony’s growth cycle. Pollen patties, which provide necessary protein, are introduced six to eight weeks before the expected main nectar flow. This protein boost promotes early brood rearing, ensuring a large population of foraging bees is ready to collect nectar when major blooms appear. However, stimulating brood rearing too early risks late-season starvation if a cold spell prevents foraging.
Feeds and Ingredients to Strictly Avoid
Using the wrong kind of sugar or contaminated ingredients can severely compromise a colony’s health. Unrefined sugars such as brown sugar, molasses, and raw sugar should be strictly avoided because they contain high levels of minerals and ash that bees cannot easily digest. The accumulation of these impurities in the bees’ digestive tracts can lead to severe dysentery, a common cause of overwinter colony loss.
Confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar) should not be used unless confirmed to be pure sucrose without additives. Most commercial powdered sugar contains cornstarch or other anti-caking agents, which are indigestible for bees and contribute to digestive issues. Only pure, white granulated sugar, whether from cane or beet, should be used for making syrup or solid sugar preparations.
It is highly recommended never to feed honey from an unknown source, including most store-bought honey, to a colony. Honey can transmit spores of devastating bee diseases, such as American Foulbrood, which remain viable for many years. Introducing external honey, even if it appears clean, represents a serious biosecurity risk that can infect an otherwise healthy hive.