Sugar Water

[MagicValley]

When I started this hobby a month ago, my local adviser told the class to spray sugar water on the bees in an open hive.  He said this keeps them busy cleaning each other.  He also said to keep feeding them 1:1 sugar/water until late fall, then increase it to 2:1.

Other people posting here, seem to recommend not using sugar, or spraying.  Some seem to think it is a cause of nosema.

Could some knowledgeable people post their thoughts here on the topic?  Some explanations of why they think sugar is bad would be helpful.  Just saying "Don't do it." teaches nothing.

[buzzbee]

Nosema is caused by spores of a protozoa. Do not confuse nosema with dysentary  (diarrhea). unless its a new package,sugar syrup is not needed unless the bees are facing hunger.
Bees will most likely not suffer dysentary if they are not cooped up for extended periods unless they actually have nosema.
All dysentary is not nosema.
The little sprayed for inspections most likely will not cause dysentary.I prefer smoke,as sugar syrup will not mask the alarm pheremone.Worker bees returning to the hive will not be covered with syrup to keep them busy.

[melliphile]

Maybe the dysentery advice comes from the logic that introducing too much moisture into the hive will create an environment favorable for disease; and also that sugar water is not the same ph as honey and therefore could affect the bees digestion. I have used it on packages and swarms when hiving them was not eminent, but only as "survival" food.

[JP]

I only use sugar water on bees if they are in a dry swarm. In a hive it only wets their wings and actually impedes production and quite possibly could pizz them off some if overdone.

As for feeding until fall. Feed is to be offered to bees as they are building from scratch when proper resources (nectar) is not available to them. You do this early spring, then stop feeding. If the hive is not building due to a poor nectar flow, then you can start feeding again.

...JP

[Michael Bush]

My problem is I've seen so many sticky dying bees in my time, that it seems like a really bad idea...

[MagicValley]

Thanks for the advice.

I put the feet of my hive stand into small containers as water moats to keep the ants out.  The ants were being drawn to the hive area by the dripping syrup.  The next day I checked, and there were a lot of drowned bees in the 4 moats.  Maybe a total of 15 or 20 dead bees.

I don't want to put motor oil or ATF in the moats, because when it rains; they'll fill up and the petroleum will spill onto the ground.

[marksmith]

Smear a 2" band of vaseline around the feet.  You will need to keep an eye on it... but ants wont cross it.

Also cinnamon will keep ants down.  Goes away with rain... but its simple and effective.  Bees dont mind it either.