Spring Nutrition, Manage It With 3Bee Sensors

In spring, family development begins, new brood rearing and the energy demands of the hive increase enormously. Heating large areas of brood costs much more than heating the heart of the glomere in winter. So it is crucial that the bees have sufficient supplies. Especially in these times of climate change and strange, often cold or rainy springs. A period of bad weather of even a week can put hives in serious difficulty at this time, with the risk of even starvation.

It is therefore essential to know how much stock our bees have and how much they consume in order to be able to organise effective nutrition in a timely and rational manner. And this is where the 3Bee sensors come in very handy, allowing us to keep an eye on the bees without having to go to the apiary too often and without having to open the hives. The data provided by the 3Bee scales give us a clear view of the hive's consumption. If consumption increases too much, resulting in the family's weight dropping, action must be taken. A word of advice: if we have few scales, it is a good idea to place them on the strong hives with the lowest stocks, i.e. those most at risk. That way we can see when stocks drop on the hives that need it most, and we can intervene immediately, obviously then feeding all the others to be on the safe side.

What nutrition to give? In spring it is good to suspend feeding with candy to avoid starch residues contaminating the first honey production. The best feed at this time is high-density syrups, with at least 40% sugar. These syrups in fact mimic honey and not nectar, and are therefore not a strong hatching stimulus for the queen. Not over-stimulating brood development is important in the event of bad weather or an unstable season, because an excess of brood in bad weather would lead to a further increase in stock requirements, creating a vicious circle that is very risky if the season does not recover.

And the feeders? Everyone chooses the ones they prefer, obviously taking into account the pros and cons of each. Those with a drum or depression are usually less capacious, but allow feeding without opening the hives, reducing the work for us and the stress for the bees, although we may have to go back more often. Those with a frame allow more feeding at once, reducing visits, but require the hive to be opened and need more cleaning: it is easy to find dead bees inside and it is good to remove them before adding the syrup.