Honey Bee Healing Tea Nutrition and preventative Measures to strengthen a Colony
Just like humans, bees work best when preventative measures and quality nutrition are the core of any beekeepers philosophy. Bees, especially honeybees, have long existed without the help of humans, relying solely on instincts and growing the colony.
At Beepods, our core beekeeping philosophy has always been to let bees be bees and support them in the areas which they may struggle. One of those areas is finding quality nutrition and supplemental food to maintain the health and immune system of the entire super-organism.
ENJOY THE FOLLOWING NATURAL TEA RECIPES FOR YOUR BEES
GENERAL STRENGTH TEA RECIPE
This general tea recipe can be used at any time to build the resiliency of the colony. Will make a quantity for two 1-quart servings.
In a ceramic or steel pot (not aluminum) bring 3 cups of good water (well or spring water) to a boil, take off stove and add the following ingredients.
- 1/2 teaspoon each of: chamomile, yarrow, stinging nettle, peppermint, dandelion flowers (if available)
- 1/4 teaspoon each of: sage, hyssop, thyme, lemon balm, echinacea
- 1 pinch of rue
Let ingredients steep for 10 minutes, then strain through a cloth or fine colander. Add another 3 cups of cold water and let cool down till it is lukewarm.
Add 1 cup (1/2 lb.) of good honey and stir well.
Store in 1-quart jars in the refrigerator until used, but warm to room temperature before you give it to the bees. This healthy treat can be given early spring until late summer every one or two months.
FOR BUILDING UP NUCS, SPLITS, SWARMS OR PACKAGES
Use this recipe to augment the growth of a colony to prolific rates to ensure that the colony can handle anything with small numbers of worker bees. Will make a quantity for two 1-quart servings.
In a ceramic or steel pot (not aluminum) bring 3 cups of good water (well or spring water) to a boil, take off stove and add the following ingredients.
- 1/2 teaspoon each of: chamomile, yarrow, stinging nettle, peppermint, dandelion flowers (if available)
- 1/4 teaspoon each of: sage, hyssop, thyme, lemon balm, echinacea
- 1 pinch of rue
Let ingredients steep for 10 minutes, then strain through a cloth or fine colander. Add another 3 cups of cold water and let cool down till it is lukewarm.
Add 4 cups (2 lb.) of good honey and stir well.
Feed as often as the colony takes up the tea for about 2 weeks; longer in inclement weather, shorter if they have enough forage to gather in nature.
NOTE: Observation is very important. If the tea sits for days and is not taken by the bees, they either do not need it or the tea has turned sour. This can happen quickly in warm weather.
FALL TEA RECIPE
This recipe is only needed if the colony was unable to build up sufficient stores of honey for the winter! It is important to have a heavy syrup so that the bees do not have to work as hard to evaporate the water content of the tea; the feeding should go quickly at this point.
If you only have one or two colonies, you can afford a recipe with honey only (see above), but if you have too many colonies to feed after a bad summer (severe drought or too much rain), then you may have to add sugar. SUGAR IS NOT GOOD FOR THE BEES. The question becomes "do I want to let them starve to death or do I want them to survive the winter." Adding FALL TEA to sugar syrup is helpful for digestion. Organic Sugar (preferably white) is always preferred because brown sugar or succant contains too many organic compounds, which are hard for the bees to digest. Make as much or as little tea as needed based on how much feeding needs to take place.
RECIPE
Fill a container with the desired quantity of sugar; for example, 5 lbs of sugar will produce about 2 1/2 quarts of syrup.
Mark the container and add the hot tea solution to the desired level of syrup (See "For Nucs, Swarms, Etc." Recipe for details).
Stir vigorously
Let the solution cool to a lukewarm temperature
Add 5 to 10% of good honey; it adds complex sugars to the simple ones.
Add a pinch of good salt (NOT IODIZED!); this aids in the digestion of the sugar.
NOTE: At this point we should consider the Honeybee colony to be in a life-threatening situation. Like the patient in an emergency room, she needs care, attention and love. Treat your bees with kindness
Be kind to your bees and feed them what is natural. Just like we as humans have realized a more natural foods, less processed and synthetic diet will increase our health, lives and happiness, the same goes for honey bees. They are a complex creature...
Just like you.
If you do not have the above mentioned herbs, do not worry; the first three are the most important. You can also contact us at Beepods to discuss some places that may have what you are looking for.
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