The best carbohydrate for the honeybee is the honey it makes. Honey comes from the nectar the worker bees bring from a variety of plants. Each plant produces nectar at different times of the day. The nectar also has various nutrition. Bees are smart and know which flower has the best nutrients for their hive’s present needs. However, when there is a limited supply of nectar in the beginning of spring, the heat of the summer or in the winter, a beekeeper may need to provide their hives additional sustenance to keep them from starving, absconding or dying.

Finding the right syrup that the bees will drink and utilize to make comb or for energy is important. As the seasoned beekeeper knows, in the warmer weather they would feed the bees 1:1 syrup and during the cooler temperatures they would make a 2:1 syrup. There are many controversial ideas on the type of sugar and the temperature of the water. That will be discussed in future posts.

There are many formulas documented and sold on the market to enhance an existing sugar syrup to provide the hive with a supplementary boost.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar syrup
• 1/4 cup chamomile flowers
• 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan, grey Celtic salt
• 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• Essential Oils (15 drops of each of spearmint and wintergreen, 10 drops of tea tree, lemongrass oils, and 1 drop of thyme oil)

1. Boil the 1 cup of water with 1/4 cup of chamomile flowers.
2. As the tea cools add in the salt.
3. When the tea is warm, add in 1 cup of sugar syrup, apple cider vinegar and essential oils and blend by hand or in a blender (emulsifies it)
4. Store in an airtight glass jar or add it right away to 5 gallons of prepared sugar syrup

Essential oils assist with controlling mites, hive beetles, and is microbial.

Learn about essential oils and other benefits by going to the health and wellness part of the blog