When feeding bees with sugar water, it’s generally recommended to do so at night after dark, when bees are not flying outside. Feeding during the day is not advisable as it can trigger robbing behavior among bees, especially during the autumn honey flow.

During autumn, winter, and early spring, when external nectar sources are scarce, beekeepers should consider providing supplemental feeding based on the needs of their hives. If the hive is low on honey, you should feed them sugar water. During the breeding season, if you want to strengthen your bee colony and external pollen sources are lacking, you should provide pollen or pollen substitutes.

In the spring, when bees enter their major breeding period, reward feeding should be given to stimulate the queen to lay eggs faster, helping to quickly develop a strong colony from the overwintered bees. This reward feeding can be stopped once external nectar sources are abundant.

Providing protein feed to the bee colony is also crucial. Pollen is the primary protein source for bees, and beekeepers often feed their colonies with soybean meal-based feeds to supplement their protein needs, especially when pollen is scarce. Pollen is essential for the development of bee larvae.

Feeding the colony with syrup is another common method. White sugar is typically the main ingredient for syrup. You can prepare the syrup by mixing white sugar and water in a 1:1 ratio, then heating until the sugar is fully dissolved. Once the syrup cools down, you can add a small amount of citric acid before feeding it to the bees using a feeder.