The national low-alcohol drinks that have come down to our times, almost under the same names - honey, kvass, beer, had high nutritional value, prepared from natural raw materials.
  This made it possible to obtain high-quality drinks that do not contain large quantities of fusel oils and other fermentation by-products. Most of the technological methods used at that time laid the foundation for modern beverage technology.

The technological scheme for the manufacture of boiled pitnaya honey:

• selection of components for getting full of honey;
• cooking honey full on fire and cooling;
• yeast addition and wort fermentation;
• removal from the precipitate after fermentation and clarification if necessary;
• transfusion and endurance.

Wort Composition

The composition includes: honey, water, yeast, top dressing for nutrition of yeast, tartaric acid, tannin, and, if desired, also aromatic substances.

Honey is taken fresh, or crystallized, it is allowed to take honey from wax scraps when pumping honey. The taste, aroma and bouquet of the future honey wine depend on the origin of honey, therefore, the botanical origin of honey is important, but you can make high-quality nutritious honey from any honey. Light varieties of honey give honey with a more delicate taste and a soft, delicate aroma; dark varieties give honey with a richer flavor.

In modern publications it is indicated that it is not advisable to take honey that has already lost consumer qualities, which has been fermented, such honey can contain by-products that will damage the quality of the future wine. Also, do not take honey full after washing the honey separator and containers for honey.

Such honey and such sytu can be taken as raw material for boiled honey, but subjected to rigorous testing for organoleptic. During boiling, the pathogenic flora dies and a pure yeast culture will multiply under sterile conditions.
  Initially, just boiled honey was made from second-class honey. First-class honey was used for cooking set honey (princes), and honey with the remains of beef, brood, from dark honeycombs was used for cooking boiled honey.

Water

Water for honey should be clean, completely odorless and as soft as possible. Tap and hard water are less suitable for wort. Do not take disinfected water. The use of distilled water is also undesirable, since it is devoid of minerals, and the complete absence of minerals is as undesirable as their excessive amount.

The choice of water for honey must is more important than the choice of honey.

The situation with water in our time is such that sometimes it is impossible to find water suitable for the wort. As a possible solution for the purification and filtration of water can be reverse osmosis filters. Water purification occurs through a membrane with a porosity of 0.00001 μm, which is equal to the size of a water molecule. A five-stage filtration system ensures maximum purification of water from harmful impurities, iron and hardness salts dissolved in water.

Wine yeast

The EC 1118 yeast race is used in the production of high-quality white wines and sparkling wines, as well as one of the best for the production of rich honey.
  Due to its ability to suppress wild microflora and high activity at low temperatures, this yeast is one of the most popular in the world.
  Wine yeast EC-1118 is characterized by excellent fermentation ability with low foaming, low production of volatile acids.
  The race works well in a wide temperature range from 4 to 35 ° C, is characterized by high osmotic and alcohol resistance (up to 18%), well precipitated with a compact precipitate.
  Yeast produces a large amount of SO2 (up to 30 ppm), which can inhibit malolactic fermentation.
Store in a cool dry place at a temperature of 5-15ºС for several years in the original packaging. Extracted from the original packaging, subject to storage conditions, the yeast remains fully active for up to 6 months.

Nutrition for Yeast

Fermaid E (Fermaid I) is a special complex of nutrients for yeast, which is used during alcoholic fermentation of wort.
  It is used to compensate for nitrogen deficiency, both natural and due to losses in the production process, by: correcting the insufficient content of multi-chain fatty acids; reducing the excess of inhibitors, such as fungicides, medium chain fatty acids and antibiotics; correction of insufficient concentration of colloidal mass in the medium.

The composition includes: inactive yeast, ammonium sulfate, ammonium diphosphate, thiamine hydrochloride, silica gel.

Fermaid E prevents the risk of sluggish or interrupted fermentation, the most likely cause of which, in addition to temperature differences, poor adaptation of the yeast population and high alcohol content, is a lack of nutrition. In addition, toxins produced by yeast, some pesticides and residual fungicides can inhibit the reproduction of yeast and, accordingly, alcoholic fermentation.
  Fermaid E improves flavor by optimizing fermentation kinetics. The use of makeup brings fresh, sophisticated and clean notes.
  Store in a cool dry place.

Wine acid

Tartaric acid is a common natural compound. In significant quantities, it is found in the sour juice of many fruits, for example, in grape juice.
  It is produced from various raw materials, it can be waste from the wine industry, for example, tartar or tartaric acid lime, and dried wine yeast is also used.
  Chemical formula: FROM4H6O6.
  In the food industry, tartaric acid is used as an acidity regulator (food supplement E-334).
  Store closed, with a relative humidity of not more than 65%.

Tannin

Tannin is a tannin, tart and easily soluble in water. In winemaking it is used to improve the composition and taste of wines, giving wines astringency, fullness of taste and improving their aromatic qualities. Tannin is also used as a gluing organic material that can interact with the components of wine and accelerate its clarification, precipitating. Tannin also improves the quality and organoleptic properties of wine.
Tannins are made from selected varieties of oak, it is a completely natural and environmentally friendly product, does not contain any chemical additives.
  Store in a closed, dry room.

Aromatic substances

Aromatic substances such as hops, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, violet root, valerian, rose petals, and other spices are added to give honey aroma to this or that aroma.

Wort calculation

In the history of honey production there was a time when the wort was not calculated, and water and honey were taken in ratios that have developed empirically. To date, there are several methods for calculating the wort:

• determination of sugar content using a hydrometer, or refractometer;
• calculation using tables;
• volume ratio;
• asterisk method.

The simplest and most accurate method is when we determine the sugar content using a hydrometer-sugar meter.

A modern honey product should have:

• aC-3 areometers-sugarometers with a measurement range of 0 - 25% and 25 - 50%;
• alcohol thermometer;
• electronic kitchen scales;
• volumetric flask.

For the manufacture of relatively strong honey wines with a spirituality of up to 14% vol. a wort is prepared, with an initial sugar content of 30-32% (measured by a hydrometer with a range of 25 - 50%). The most common recipes have a honey / water ratio of 1: 2. For example, if we take 6 liters of honey, we must dissolve them in 12 liters of water.
  With good fermentation, the sugar content of the wort, after its completion, can drop to 4% (measured by a hydrometer with a range of 0 - 25%).

The spirituality of the finished wine is determined by the difference between the initial and final sugar content of the wort - 32-4 \u003d 28%, i.e. yeast turned 28% sugar into ethyl alcohol. In honeymaking it is considered that 1% sugar in the wort gives 0.5% vol. alcohol in wine, i.e. spirituality 28 * 0.5 \u003d 14% vol.

Only strong honey containing more than 11% vol. alcohol is stored for a long time and does not turn sour.
  Light, set, tablespoons, natural nourishing mead of low alcohol and dry honey - are the pinnacle of art in honeymaking, but you can start their production by first trying your hand at making strong boiled honey.

Cooking and boiling honey full

Honey full is an aqueous solution of honey, of various concentrations. To make honey fed, honey and water are bred.
  For cooking, 12-liter enameled pans are convenient. Therefore, it is fed full of high concentration and only after cooking it is diluted with water until 32% sugar content is obtained.

In a saucepan, pour water to half and heat, then dissolve 6 liters of honey in warm water. We put on a strong fire, adding water, so that the pan is not more than 3/4 full, because the honey that is boiling, easily runs away.
  At the same time, stirring it all the time with a wooden spatula, running along the bottom so that it does not burn.

After the boil is full, the fire is reduced to a level so that the boil is moderate. In the process of cooking, honey gives a lot of foam, which we remove from a full spoon or slotted spoon and remove it. Foam must be removed necessarily, otherwise the meaning is lost in cooking full.

When cooking honey full, it is always at hand to have a vessel with cold water that can be quickly poured into the pan - if the full suddenly starts to run away.

We cook sytu until it becomes translucent and the evolution of foam stops. After some of the water boils, we add water again and continue cooking - the foam will again begin to stand out for some more time.

Cooking time for various sources from 1 hour to 4. The duration of cooking full of honey will depend on how many protein (nitrogenous) substances are in the selected honey. Medovar does not know how many of them are contained in satiety, but there is a clear sign of the end of cooking honey - full should be transparent, the release of foam stops.
  You can check the end of cooking by adding cold water to the full, if there is no sharp release of foam, then the full is ready.

If it is supposed to add aromatic substances to the satiety that is being cooked, then this is done at the end of cooking, dip them in a canvas bag in the satiety, and cook for another 30 minutes removing the foam.

We cool the boiled cheese and pour it into a 20-liter glass bottle and add water to obtain 32% sugar content. Cover the neck of the bottle with a tissue. For further work with wiring and adding yeast, it is desirable to have a wort cooled to a temperature of 25-28 degrees.

Fermentation (fermentation) of honey wort

After the honey wort is prepared, we add the necessary components to it.

The addition of tartaric acid

Many winemakers use only tartaric acid to control the level of acidity. Since citric acid can turn into acetic acid during the fermentation period, it is better not to use it for wort.

To increase the acidity, add tartaric acid, about 2.5-3.5 grams per 1 liter of wort. Pour the wort into a 1 liter container and gradually add tartaric acid (calculated on the entire volume of the wort), stirring until completely dissolved, observing the rule “pour acid into water”. After that, pour the finished mixture back into the bottle.

Wiring and adding yeast

The layout of the yeast is one of the most important points in the preparation of nutritious honey.

Recommends the layout of the yeast as follows: pour 50 milliliters of boiled water with a temperature of about 25 ° C into a liter container. Then add yeast at the rate of 2.5-3.0 grams per 10 liters of wort.
  Mix gently to remove lumps and let stand for 15 minutes. And after that, preferably with a temperature close to the temperature of the mixture, add the same volume of wort (50 milliliters) so that the yeast passes adaptation. The mixture is also mixed. After 15 minutes, gradually add the wort, increasing the volume of the mixture to a liter. After some time, rapid fermentation begins.

The resulting wiring, after about 20-30 minutes, pour into a bottle with a must. The difference between the wiring temperature and the wort temperature is not more than 8ºС.

The bottle is closed with a water lock-stopper, with a tube inserted into it, lowered into a container of water.

Signs of wort fermentation will appear within a few hours.

Wine making should be avoided on hot summer days, at temperatures of + 30 ° C and more. In the cold season, a wort bottle should not be placed near stoves and heating systems.
  in his book Nutritious Honeys. Recipes and technology ”writes that in the room where the wort will roam, an even temperature of 20-25 ° C, on average about 22.5 ° C, is desirable.

Adding nutrition to nutrition of yeast

Two days after making the yeast, add top dressing for their nutrition. Feeding, like yeast, is added at the rate of 2.5-3.0 grams per 10 liters of wort.

3 to 4 days after the start, the wort foams a lot, a quiet noise can be heard. This begins a rapid fermentation, during which the volume of the wort increases, due to the foam and its temperature rises.

Wort during rapid fermentation can spill over the top, so the bottle should not be filled with wort at the very neck.
  It is because of this, at the very beginning, when calculating the wort, we took 6 liters of honey for 12 liters of water (honey / water ratio 1: 2)

Rapid fermentation lasts several days, sometimes up to two weeks. The more fermentation occurs, the faster it ends.

Two weeks after the first top dressing, we add the top dressing to feed the yeast, in the same proportion as before, 2.5-3.0 grams per 10 liters of wort.

Yeast breath

The highest fermentative activity of yeast is observed in the absence of oxygen, but the reproduction of yeast faster occurs in an oxygen-enriched environment. Without oxygen, the development of yeast is impossible. To ensure that the wort is saturated with oxygen, transfusion helps. The stream that flows into the new vessel must be long so that as much of the wort as possible has contact with the air.

After the end of rapid fermentation, a period of quiet fermentation begins, which can last several months. The yeast that is in the wort gradually begins to sink to the bottom, forming a precipitate. Fermentation gradually fades, the wort begins to lighten. Fermentation can be considered complete when gas bubbles completely ceased to stand out in the wort.
  Removing wine from the sediment ends the fermentation period.

Fermentation cannot be carried out in non-ventilated, enclosed spaces. Carbon dioxide, which is formed during fermentation, is very toxic and since it is one and a half times heavier than air, it can accumulate in low-placed niches.

Transfusion and exposure

At the end of fermentation, as soon as the yeast settles to the bottom, and at least partial clarification of the wort occurs, the young nutritious honey obtained using a tube up to 2 meters long is poured into a container for further ripening. The remaining precipitate is poured into a glass jar, defended and poured.
  If we poured not quite clarified, nutritious honey, then as soon as it clarifies, re-transfer it.

Honey is aged until more complete clarification, which is accelerated by the addition of tannin (10.0 gr. Per 10 liters of drink).
  For final cleaning, gluing with chicken protein, fish glue, or gelatin is used. These protein substances in the alcoholic liquid coagulate and, settling in flakes, carry away the last turbidity. The pasted drink should stand, and then it is filtered.

After 2-3 months, sometimes more, the honey will finally lighten, it must be carefully removed from the sediment and can be bottled, or left in a large container. The container should be filled to the very top and tightly sealed so that there is no air access.

Glass containers are the best utensils for aging honey. It is unacceptable to use containers made of plastic, ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Excerpts can only be carried out in a cellar or basement, since this operation requires the need for low temperatures not higher than + 10 ° C.

Winter is a relatively calm time for the beekeeper. But in order for the bees in the apiary to survive the winter well, they need to be properly fed in the fall. “Right” means at the right time and in the right proportions. If you do everything “according to science”, in winter no family will die.

Autumn feeding of bees

Feeding domestic bees in the autumn-winter period is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Syrup for bees for autumn top dressing must be boiled, strictly observing the ratio of the main ingredients - sugar and water. If you cook it “by eye,” the nutrition will turn out to be unbalanced, insects can die from an upset stomach.

Important!   According to statistics, the most common cause of bee death in winter is diarrhea caused by improperly organized last feeding.

• If you have to take hard tap water for the syrup, you must first pass it through the filter. The ideal option is water from a well or well.
• To obtain a 70% solution of water and sugar, you need to take 2 kg of sugar sand per liter of water.
• Before giving food to bees, it is necessary to warm the liquid to about 40 degrees.
• Fir oil can be added to the finished fluid. This will help enrich your diet with an extra dose of protein.

Autumn feeding of bees with sugar syrup

When and how to feed bees in the fall

Beekeeping in September-October (the timing depends on the region) is, first of all, the preparation of insects for winter. The main task of the apiary owner is to ensure that the bees leave for winter well-fed. To do this, you can not start feeding too early. But you should not be late, otherwise the bees will be already lethargic and will eat poorly. Each year, a favorable period for feeding occurs at different times.

When planning this important event, you need to consider the following:

• If the weather is favorable, it is better to start feeding in the first decade of September or in the middle of the second decade.
• Before starting work, it is necessary to pump out honey for the last time.
• Do not wait for the onset of cold weather. When the temperature drops sharply, insects do not fly out of the hive to send out their natural needs, and droppings that remain “in the house” can cause infection with dangerous infections.
• Before feeding, it is necessary to disinfect the hives.

When asked about when bees are fed in Siberia in the fall, experienced beekeepers answer: it all depends on what weather is in the yard, and when weather forecasters predict the final onset of winter, with snow and frost.

Attention!   Of course, you need to feed insects while there are warm, warm days - as experienced beekeepers say, you need to "catch" such days.

However, it must be borne in mind that, in connection with the early onset of cold weather, this event in Siberia and its regions should be carried out before the calendar autumn, in the third decade of August.

Residents of the Middle Strip can safely wait until the end of August, and the owners of apiaries in the south of the country can attend to feeding in early September, and will not be late.

Honey full for feeding

Feeding bees in the fall involves, in particular, the use of honey fed. To add this food to the diet of insects must be strictly metered. A large amount of carbohydrates in this product will help bees survive the winter safely. Also, such feeding will enrich the diet of insects with valuable amino acids.

Honey full for feeding bees

When preparing a honey full, you must keep in mind the following:

• It is possible to prepare syte with a different consistency, it all depends on the state of the bees.
• If all honey was taken from the bees, they should not remain hungry in the winter. In this case, you need a thick concentrated solution of honey - 4 parts of honey per 1 part of water.
• When a beekeeper is interested in the active reproduction of insects, it is necessary to prepare a top dressing of medium consistency - not very thick, but not liquid. For this, honey and water are mixed in a ratio of 1: 1, that is, they are taken equally.
• It happens that there is still honey in the house, but the beekeeper wants to stimulate insects to oviposition. In this case, you need a liquid feed, consisting of 2 parts of water and 1 part of honey. But it should be borne in mind that sometimes liquid fullness causes diarrhea in insects.

It is not worth adding various spices to the syta, as beekeepers sometimes do in the south of Russia. If the bees are healthy and active, they will eat food without any additional additives. If the insects are ill with something, first they need to be cured, and then feed them.

How to feed old honey to bees

Syrup for bees in the fall - a product of prime necessity. But in addition to syrup, other substances must be present in the diet of insects in the fall, it may be the honey of past “crops”.

How to feed old honey to bees:

1. Choose the moment when insects almost do not fly, approximately in the second decade of September.
2. When it starts to get dark, pull out the frames with last year’s honey.
3. Place the frames at a distance of about 17 meters from the houses.
4. The next day, pull out and give insects frames with last year's honey at any time of the day.

This can be done for several days in a row until there is nothing left of land.

It is necessary to observe how insects clean the land, and make sure that they do not perforate the honeycombs. A frame with the softer honey should be periodically placed up. Instead, a frame with a solid product is installed, insects are removed, the frame is placed to the side.

In the end, only those frames that contain the hardest honey can remain unrefined. Before giving such frames for cleaning to bees, in the evening they are slightly watered with water. Over night, honey becomes softer, and insects easily clean everything.

How to feed old honey to bees

Last year’s honey can be fed not only in autumn, but also in spring. This method is safer, because at this time of the year the insects will not “rob each other”. However, in spring, bees eat worse than in autumn.

Incentive feeding

Autumn feeding of bees includes the so-called incentive feeding.

Here are the basic rules for such feeding:

• the purpose of feeding is to activate the natural instincts of bees;
• incentive feeding is needed if the queen bee very early stopped laying;
• syrup is given in small doses, and insects take it for a natural bribe;
• the density and concentration of the syrup with stimulating feeding do not matter.
• instead of syrup, you can just as well use honey sytu.

In the southern regions, where the period of uterine activity lasts longer, induction feeding is rarely necessary. However, in the Russian Middle lane and in the more northern regions, this event must be included in the beekeeper's annual calendar.

Beekeeping in September: feeding bees with wormwood

Experienced beekeepers often advise less experienced companions to feed insects not only with sugar syrup or honey well fed, but also with plant ingredients. Most often, wormwood is used for this. It is not difficult to prepare a “dish” with wormwood for the inhabitants of an apiary. To do this, you must:

1. Collect wormwood, separate the leaves from the stems.
2. Chop the leaves finely and place in a clean glass jar so that half the jar remains empty.
3. Pour with rectified ethyl alcohol.
4. Close the vessel tightly, leave in a cool dark place for three days.

Wormwood feeding of bees

For 2 liters of regular sugar syrup, you need to take 4 tablespoons of wormwood tincture. Such an additive has an antiseptic effect. Wormwood also contains valuable vitamins and minerals, normalizes redox processes (prevents oxidation) in the body of wintering insects. If all proportions are correctly observed, the bitter taste of wormwood and alcohol will be almost invisible to insects.

In winter, the death of bees is not a rare phenomenon, especially in the northern regions. However, the proper organization of feeding, in accordance with the climatic characteristics of a particular region, will help to avoid this trouble.

A complex process that requires constant attention and reverent care of the breeder. One of the main issues that bothers is the feeding of bees in the spring. Many doubt what to choose - sugar syrup or honey full. More experienced specialists are inclined to believe that honey is still closer to a natural product and will bring more benefits.

Honey full: description

Roughly speaking, honey is full diluted with water. Only proportions and methods of feeding change. Consistency depends on the time of year in which top dressing will be carried out. For example, in the spring, bees are not recommended to give a large amount of liquid; accordingly, to prepare honey, you need to use more honey and less water.

Natural components, vitamins and minerals that make up its composition are very important for the life of insects and are as close as possible to their usual diet, consisting of pollen and nectar.

Important!   Sugar dressing is acceptable for bees, but is characterized by a high content of carbohydrates and a lack of minerals and vitamins that they constantly need.

Honey Satiety used to lay as many eggs as possible; Such top dressing is called incentive and is used to brood and strengthen the apiary. Most often, it is added to the diet of insects in the spring, when food supplies are exhausted, and the flowers have not bloomed yet and the bees cannot feed themselves on their own.

Cooking full

Honey filling is prepared very simply, while there are many recipes for its preparation. In addition to the main ingredients, many beekeepers add pieces of lard, dried insects (queens, ants), herbs and spices, and sometimes even vodka to the treat; however, the benefits of these impurities are difficult to evaluate. We offer basic classic recipes for this nutritional supplement.

Most often, this period occurs at the end of May, when bushes and bloom. It is very important not to miss this hungry period of time due to the fact that just during this period active reproduction takes place and bees especially need hearty food. Such situations do not arise only in apiary apiaries, where there are practically no such breaks.

Honey is full for bees - a type of feeding insects rich in vitamins, minerals and biologically active substances. It is necessary as an additional nutrition to induce the bee to brood and to strengthen the apiary.

Composition and purpose

Honey is full - a beekeeping product diluted with water with different concentrations. Natural in nature, it is by its qualitative characteristics closest to the nectar that insects collect from honey plants, and acts as the basis for the preparation of honey by bees.

Well-fed honey bees are fed in the spring season and early summer in the absence of blooming honey plants giving bribes to insects, as well as in the autumn when preparing an apiary for wintering.

The use of honey for bees allows you to achieve several goals:

• increase the number of bee families,
• increase insect immunity and disease resistance,
• stimulate oviposition in the bee,
• build up the population for early departures for the collection of nectar.

The beekeepers mix drugs into the sweet lure to combat a number of diseases, including varroatosis.

Concentration

The concentration in the preparation of honey full is chosen depending on the purpose of its use.

Medium concentrated

Medium-saturated honey is intended for stimulating feeding. Such top dressing is important for colonies weakened by wintering. Carbohydrate and protein reserves allow insects to quickly restore strength and give impetus to their development and increase in numbers. Medium-concentrated nutrient mixture beekeepers are also used to stimulate oviposition in a bee. The average concentration involves mixing water and honey in equal proportions.

Densely concentrated

Dense top dressing is used to make insects replenish fodder reserves. Usually it is fed after the initial audit of hives in early spring, when the food left for the winter by insects is eaten or it is not enough, and there are no frames with honey. The concentration of thick complementary foods from honey with water is 4: 1.

Liquid

The liquid nutrient mixture is sprayed into two colonies in order to connect them into a single family. Concentration 1: 2.

Cooking method

It is possible to make a honey syrup according to the recipe from both liquid honey and a candied product.

• From liquid honey. To prepare the nutrient mixture, the liquid bee product is diluted with water until completely dissolved, for which the water is pre-boiled and cooled to a temperature of 40 ° C. They feed insects with a warm solution.
• From a candied product. Candied honey is initially heated in a water bath, preventing the product from overheating. When honey reaches a liquid state, it is removed from the fire and cooled. Subsequently, the cooking technology is similar to that of liquid honey.

When using herbal honey in honey, in which there are wax residues, the main ingredient is taken by ¼ more. After dissolving honey in water, wax residues are filtered or squeezed by hand.

Many beekeepers are fed with recipes using plant roots, dried ants, peppers, lard and cloves to attract insects with the smell of these components.

Use full

The honey mixture in the warm conditions soups, because it is not prepared in advance. For each feeding, fresh mixtures are used. At the same time, 1.0-1.3 liters are produced per 1 bee family or the mixture in a volume of up to 5 liters is divided into several doses with an interval of several days.

Feeding bees full in the evening. The volume and frequency of complementary foods are individually regulated.

The mixture is poured into ceiling feeders or placed inside the hive on a frame with honeycombs. Cupping troughs and plastic containers with cut holes are also suitable as feeders.

Fed well-fed bees in spring, summer or early fall.

Spring dressing

Spring dressing begins 5 weeks before the swarm of insects. Depending on regional conditions, this period varies in different areas.

Summer dressing

Additional food in the summer is provided when it is impossible for the insects to leave the hive in order to collect nectar due to bad rainy or too cold weather.

Autumn top dressing

Additional feeding of bees in autumn is done with the complete removal of honey from the hive or as the creation of an additional nutritional reserve for the winter.

Cooking honey full - spring feeding of bees.

Feeding bees in spring full of honey

Conclusion

Feeding of bees full of honey is carried out in order to provide a bee colony, weakened after wintering, to stimulate the bee on egg laying and induce insects to collect nectar. Do this in spring, summer and autumn, choosing the season and concentration for feeding, depending on the goals.

Spring feeding of bees is important - the strength of the apiary during honey collection will depend on it to a significant extent. Of course, it is necessary since the fall to provide the bee colonies with the necessary food. But often the feed ends before the onset of sustained heat. In this case, you will need to make top dressing.

Each beekeeper selects the dates of spring dressing independently, depending on weather conditions and the beginning of mass flowering of honey plants. However, feeding insects most often in march-April, that is, during the first flyby.

General characteristics of spring dressing

Winter top dressing is necessary to prevent the death of bee colonies. Feeding bees in the spring, in addition to providing insects with obvious nutrition, has other purposes. It promotes enhanced oviposition of the “Queen” and, consequently, an increase in the number of families and an increase in honey collection.

Also, such top dressing inhibits bees from flying out and their possible death as a result of this, since in early spring the weather is still unstable and there are often frosts. It can also have the opposite effect - to stimulate the flight. In addition, if necessary, add drugs to it to prevent the development of diseases.

Depending on the purpose, the composition of the feed will also vary. Usually, if you want to replenish feed, give honey. If necessary, stimulate reproductive abilities, bees are fed with syrup. To increase productivity, you need protein feed.

Sugar Syrup Nutrition

Feeding bees with sugar syrup is the easiest and most convenient option. Typically, such food is given at a steady temperature (within 10-15 ° C), as it stimulates insects to fly. Also, syrup enhances immunity, facilitates the fight against disease and prevents the formation of rot.

To prepare sugar syrup for bees, sugar is diluted with boiling water in equal proportions. Then the resulting solution is cooled and poured onto a frame or into a feeder.

This recipe is classic.   But, depending on the weather, the proportions may vary. With a sharp cooling and a strong wind that can kill bees, it is necessary to increase the concentration of syrup so that it becomes thicker and does not provoke flying. But often giving thick food is not recommended, as it requires additional moisture. Do not use highly liquid syrup. Its digestion will require a lot of energy from insects and can provoke the extinction of the whole family.

If the beekeeper notices after the first flight that the bees suffer from nosematosis (diarrhea is its sign), then a special agent should be added to the feed Nozemat. Add to the syrup (kilogram) will help prevent the development of the disease acetic acid   (3 grams).

Inverted syrup will bring special benefits to insects, in which, in addition to sugar, honey is placed. For such a feed, 40 grams of honey per kilogram of sugar is enough. It is much more nutritious than regular syrup, as it facilitates the conversion of sugar to glucose.

Do not cook a lot of syrup in advance - the food should be fresh. In addition, bees eat the cold delicacy reluctantly, because of which it will have to be warmed up regularly. You should not give a product that has been burnt, fermented, or stored for a long time: it can be harmful to bee health.

Usually sugar syrup is poured into overframe or subframe feeders, which should be washed well. You should choose such a quantity of food so that the bees completely eat it. The sub-frame feeder is filled with no more than half. Weak families are given food in small portions, but more often.

Recently, packages have become especially popular among beekeepers. And this is no coincidence. First of all, packages are much cheaper than feeders. In addition, it is not necessary to maintain their cleanliness (feeders often serve as a brood for bacteria that infect insects): after use, the packets are thrown away.

If the food is intended to stimulate departures, then it can be placed in small packaging bags. One bee will have enough of a liter of feed. If the product is used to replenish food supplies, then you will need to find more durable packages, the capacity of which is 3-4 liters.

First, syrup is poured into the bag, and then air is removed from it and the knot is tied with a bundle of edge. The top of the bag is sprayed with syrup to attract insects.

Protein dressing

Protein fodder, to which beef, pollen and their substitutes (soy flour, milk powder and cow milk) will help increase egg production and accelerate brood development.

Feeding with beef

Perga is the main and indispensable type of protein food. If it is lacking, then the uterus stops egg laying, which leads to a halt in the development of the bee colony. In order to prevent such a situation, it is necessary to ensure that the hive always has frames with a feather. If in the summer period the bees prepared a lot of beef, then it can be partially removed, and returned in the spring as top dressing.

Before storage, the bee bread is cut from the frames and rubbed through the sieve. From the resulting mass make balls, put them in a jar and pour honey.

First, the neck of the cans is tied with gauze, which after some time is replaced with paper. If the bee bread is not subjected to sharp temperature changes, then it retains its properties until spring. Before cooking, it is placed in a water bath to melt. If desired, an aqueous solution of sugar is added.

If the beehive is not left in the hives and its stocks are absent, and the bees cannot fly out due to bad weather, then substitutes will come to the rescue.

Feeding with a substitute for beef

Several recipes are known for making substitute for perga:

• Last year’s pollen (kilogram), honey (200 grams) and water (150 milliliters) are mixed well. The resulting feed is placed on the frame and, if necessary, added.
• Milk powder (200 grams) and sugar (kilogram) are diluted in boiling water (800 milliliters) and placed in feeders, but little by little, as the mixture quickly soups. In the absence of milk powder, you can take the usual.
• Honey (kilogram) and bee bread (half kilogram) are well mixed in hot water (half a liter) and filtered through a sieve. Leave the mixture for 2 days to insist. Each family is given half a liter of such food every 3 days.
• Fat-free soy flour is mixed with pollen in a ratio of 3: 1 and knead on sugar syrup to a pasty state.
• A full-fledged replacement for perge will be protein dough, called the Gaidak mixture. To prepare it, soy flour, milk powder and brewer's yeast are mixed in a ratio of 3: 1: 1. It is advisable to add pollen. Knead the dough, make cakes out of it and lay on the frame.

Honey dressing

Honey is the main food for bees. For the winter, one bee family needs 20-30 kilograms of honey. If, by spring, its stocks run out, then it will be necessary to provide insects with fertilizing, for which you can take old stocks, having first melted them.

Honey is full

Another undeservedly forgotten, but very effective form of food is honey full. So called an aqueous solution of honey. It is believed that such top dressing is economically disadvantageous, since it requires more costs compared to syrup. But it is full of vitamins, minerals and biologically active substances, which makes it as close to nectar as possible.

It has a beneficial effect on bees: strengthens the immune system, stimulates the body. It is used to activate oviposition, and also, if necessary, quickly build up a bee family. You can add medicine to it.

The effect of honey fed depends on its concentration. It is liquid, medium density and thick.

A dense mass is usually used as food, medium-liquid is given, if necessary, to stimulate the bees to reproduce and fly. Liquid well insects are sprayed from different families so that they get used to each other faster.

If the sytu is made from crystallized honey, then it is first dissolved with a water bath, and then stirred in water. To prepare a liquid product, honey is diluted with a double volume of water. For a solution of medium consistency, equal proportions of the components are used. For a thick feed, honey is dissolved in water in a ratio of 4: 1.

At a time, the bee family eats 1-1.3 liters full. Feeding is most often placed in ceiling feeders, in which a raft should be installed so that the bees can sit on it.

Kandy dressing

If the supply of honey is running out, then you can take a dough-like carbohydrate feed, which recipe was developed by Scholz, to feed the bees. Several Kandy recipes are known. It is in this food that drugs are usually added.

It’s best to make honey candies.   For it, honey (26%), powdered sugar (74%), water (0.18%) and acetic acid (0.02%) are mixed. In the absence of honey, the food is prepared a little differently, mixing powdered sugar (70%), inverted sugar (29.8%), water (0.18%) and acetic acid (0.02%). Do not replace the powder with sugar. As a result of such a replacement, the mass will thicken and become inaccessible to insects. The resulting dough in one piece (weighing 200-300 grams) is placed on top of the frames.

Many beekeepers prefer syrup, believing that candi loses in comparison with it. But, in reality, this is not so. Syrup is preferable when it is necessary to send the inhabitants of the hive in search of nectar. Kandy acts differently. It improves the immunity and performance of insects.

If you pay due attention to feeding the bees in the spring, then worries will pay off handsomely and will allow you to get a large and high-quality bribe.