DIY Homemade Recipe to Feed Honey Bees | Sweet Natural Syrup For Bees

In the summer, when the fields are dry, or whenever there are few flowers, it is very important to provide food for the bees to ensure their well-being and so that they can continue their labor in the beehive. Yes, if they are not well...they run away! Bees feed us and we need to feed them too. In today's post we will share our recipe for making a sweet, natural syrup to feed our bees. At the end of the post, you can also watch the video explaining how to make this food step by step.

Feeding the bees is especially important right after the honey extraction, when the bees have less food available inside the beehive.

Recipes for feeding bees are very similar, but there is always something that can be changed to make them better and healthier for the bees. For us it is important that the syrup is nutritious and has a similar aroma and taste to honey plants. So we're gonna show you how we make ours.

Ingredients

• Seasoning Herbs - to taste. For this post and video we used oregano, but other plants can be used such as thyme, lavender and rosemary. Herbs have beneficial properties and make this syrup healthier and more appealing to bees.
• Water - to taste. Enough water to make an infusion. After making the infusion, the amount needed will be 2 cups.
• Brown sugar - 4 cups. Just as for humans, also for bees the consumption of brown sugar is healthier than refined sugar.
• Lemon juice - 1 cup.

Materials

• 1 kettle for the infusion.
• 1 pot and 1 wooden spoon to mix the ingredients.
• 1 funnel and 1 glass bottle for pouring and storing the food.

Method

1. Start by making an oregano infusion. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes.
2. While waiting for the infusion, make lemon juice.
3. In a pan add 4 cups of sugar, 1 cup of lemon juice, and 2 cups of the infusion.
4. Mix together and bring to a boil.
5. After boiling, lower the heat and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes until thick.
6. Pour into a glass bottle and allow to cool down.

This recipe results in about 600ml of food and has a color and texture similar to honey.

After it has cooled, take it to the beehive and place it in the feeder. The bees like this food very much, so it is important to watch the beehives and put more food in as soon as the last one is running out.

And this is how we keep our bees happy until the next blooming season!

Here's s our video where we show you how to make this recipe in practical way.

VIDEO - DIY Homemade Recipe to Feed Honey Bees | Sweet Natural Syrup For Bees