Feeding Bees for Winter: Why Honey Matters and How Much Is Too Much?

As autumn deepens here in Port Sorell, Tasmania, and the days grow shorter, my beekeeping focus shifts toward preparing my hives for the cooler months ahead. This week, a reader posed an excellent question: “How much is too much when feeding bees to replace their stores?” To answer this, we must first understand why bees collect nectar and transform it into honey—a process central to their survival—and then consider our responsibility as beekeepers when we harvest their reserves.

The Purpose of Nectar and Honey in the Hive

Honeybees are remarkable engineers of nature, driven by an instinct to ensure their colony’s endurance through all seasons. The process begins with nectar, a sugary liquid produced by flowers as an enticement for pollinators. Foraging bees collect this nectar using their proboscis, storing it in a specialized stomach known as the honey crop. Upon returning to the hive, they pass the nectar to house bees through a mouth-to-mouth exchange called trophallaxis. Enzymes in the bees’ saliva then break down the nectar’s complex sugars into simpler forms, initiating its transformation.

The bees deposit this processed nectar into wax cells, where it undergoes further dehydration. Through the fanning of their wings, they evaporate excess water, reducing the nectar’s moisture content from around 70% to approximately 18%. This concentrated substance becomes honey—a stable, energy-rich food source that resists spoilage due to its natural preservatives, such as low water content and high acidity. Honey is the colony’s lifeline, sustaining them through winter when foraging ceases and external resources vanish.

This labour-intensive process underscores honey’s value. A single teaspoon represents the life’s work of roughly twelve bees, each visiting hundreds of flowers. For the hive, honey is not a luxury but a necessity, providing carbohydrates for energy and trace nutrients to support their physiology.

Harvesting Honey: A Beekeeping Responsibility

When we harvest honey, we interrupt this natural cycle. At Frogmouth Ponds, I aim to balance my enjoyment of this golden reward with the bees’ needs. Removing honey—especially in late summer or autumn—can leave a colony vulnerable as winter approaches. In Tasmania’s variable climate, where cold snaps can linger, a hive without sufficient stores risks starvation. Thus, replacing what we take becomes an ethical and practical obligation.

Sugar syrup is a common replacement feed, offering a reliable carbohydrate source. In late autumn, I opt for a 2:1 ratio (two parts sugar to one part water), which mimics honey’s thickness and requires less processing by the bees. This supports their efforts to cap and store it efficiently before winter sets in. However, the question remains: how much should we provide, and when does it become excessive?

How Much Is Too Much?

Feeding bees requires a nuanced approach. The goal is to ensure the hive has enough stores—typically 15 to 20 kilograms of honey or its equivalent—to survive Tasmania’s winter, where foraging opportunities may be scarce for months. A standard Langstroth hive with eight to ten frames fully capped with honey often meets this threshold, but assessing your colony’s specific needs is critical. Factors such as hive size, bee population, and local weather patterns influence their consumption rate.

Providing too little feed risks depletion mid-winter, while overfeeding poses its own challenges. Excess syrup can overwhelm the bees’ storage capacity, leaving uncapped liquid in the cells. In humid conditions, this can ferment, fostering Mold or disease. Additionally, overfeeding may discourage the bees from processing the syrup fully, as they rely on instinct to determine when stores are adequate. A practical guideline is to monitor the hive’s weight—lifting the back of the hive should feel reassuringly heavy—or inspect frames to confirm capped stores without flooding the brood nest.

At Frogmouth Ponds, I feed incrementally, offering 2 to 4 litres of syrup every few days via an internal frame feeder, stopping once the bees slow their uptake or frames are sufficiently filled. This method respects their natural rhythm while ensuring preparedness.

Striking the Balance

Bees collect nectar and craft honey to secure their future—a lesson in foresight we beekeepers must honour. When we harvest, replacing their stores with sugar syrup bridges the gap, but moderation is key. Too little jeopardizes their survival; too much disrupts their harmony. As I prepare my hives this week, I’m reminded that beekeeping is a partnership—our interventions should sustain, not overburden, these industrious allies. Curious about your hive’s winter readiness? Join me next week as we explore more seasonal strategies.