Bee Feed: History and modern use

As you’d expect from being the main UK-based Bee Feed distributors, we get asked about our products a lot.
Our friends at Belgosuc have shared some information to help answer those questions!

Historically Bee Fed was based on honey mixed with sugar, but in modern Bee Keeping and Bee Farming craftmanship, Bee Feed is more and more an important way of optimising the efficiency of modern Bee Keeping.

Taking away the honey from the bees forces the modern Bee Keeper and Bee Farmer to offer an alternative to the bees. An alternative used in the past diluted honey, sucrose in liquid or fondant form.

Today Bee Feed is offered pure in liquid or paste form and in some Countries pollen (proteins), antibiotics, minerals are added in the regular Bee Feed.

As a normal practice Belgosuc see that regular Bee Feed in paste form is mainly given in Winter time, from 2kg in Spain, up to 35kg during the Winter in North Europe. Liquid Bee Feed is mainly used to stimulate the bees to get out of the hive in February/March to rescue the bees during the Spring and Summer when nature fails to give enough nectar (extreme drought, too wet, too cold to fly out).

Liquid Bee Feed can also be used to boost the honey production on condition that the feed does not enter directly in the honey. The feed has to pass the enzymatic system of the bee.

Belgosuc has developed over the last 25 years a full range of Bee Feed, adjusted to different climatic regions on the European continent. As policy, Belgosuc have never mixed their Bee Feed with pollen, antibiotics or other ingredients as Belgosuc believe they should provide fully natural sweeteners. Bee Keepers and Farmers have to decide themselves whether they want to add these products.

We hope that this has helped to answer some of the questions pertaining to Bee Feed.
A big thank you from the mid Wales bee feed family!