Feeding bees with Sugar syrup

This is a controversial topic. Some feed some don't . It is absolutely a personal choice. 

There are four primary reasons you would feed. 

Queen Rearing. 

Breeding and rearing queens I and most queen breeders will feed their Cell rearing hives a 1 to 1 sugar syrup. This stimulates the queen bee to lay sending her into a bit of a breeding frenzy. It also helps the workers build queen calls and new comb for their queen to lay in. 

Splitting a hive. 

Myself and a number of beekeepers I know feed after splitting just to give the hive a good headstart with building nd breeding. 

Swarm Catching.

When catching a swam they are almost starting from scratch. They will take some stores from the hive to start their new home. Feeding your new hive a 2/1 syrup will give them a good head start. 

Wet Weather 

 As we all know the amount of rain in Australia the last couple of years has made beekeeping just that little more difficult. Even though you may see plenty of blossom the rain will wash out the nectar leaving your bees nothing to forage on. So always keep an eye on your bees stores and fees a 2 /1 syrup if needed. 

Things to remember. 

Only feed when needed. If the bees are able to collect what they need there is no need. Bees like humans are lazy. They will uses the sugar syrup instead of nectar and store it... Better known as fake honey. Some beekeepers will coulou the sugar syrup with food color so they know what is fake honey. 

Make sure when adding the Sugar syrup to your hive it is a room temperature. 

When using a feeder make sure the ladder goes all the way to the bottom of the feeder so syrup is not left to go mouldy.  

As I mentioned before. Some beekeepers don't feed but after a few yeas int he beekeeping industry I have found its about 50 / 50 and of course you need a great beekeeping suit when feeding bees...... ( sorry I couldn't help myself !! )