# People putting 'food' out for bees **URL:** \ **Category:** General Bee Chat\ **Created:** [August 1, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066 "2016-08-01T02:37:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kirsten\_Redlich](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/kirsten_redlich/32/5093_2.png) [@Kirsten\_Redlich](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Kirsten_Redlich)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 10:10am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/21 "2016-08-02T10:10:15Z")
I don’t think I will ever be convinced that feeding bees sugar is not _the best_ for them. I understand commercial outfits will always resort to this practice because it comes down to economics. But for home producers (when it comes to food sources/stores) surely it’s about management of honey robbing. If nectar/pollen is low, don’t take so much, or don’t take any. Bees have evolved an almost perfect response to shifting environmental factors, the waxing & waning of their population. Humans are one of few species obsessed with eternal growth, it’s impacting the world now. ---
**Author:** ![Kirsten\_Redlich](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/kirsten_redlich/32/5093_2.png) [@Kirsten\_Redlich](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Kirsten_Redlich)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 10:16am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/22 "2016-08-02T10:16:59Z")
Perhaps though, your neighbours may not be so vigilant in cleaning their feeders? Concentrated numbers of animals in one place, who then visit multiple sites. Further their diet is impacted by foods that don’t have the dietary requirements needed & they develop issues with things like bone density & obesity, & dependency. It’s as if they were visiting every fast food source in the neighbourhood. Love the pollinator strategies & as you say that visible progress is being made. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kirsten\_Redlich](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/kirsten_redlich/32/5093_2.png) [@Kirsten\_Redlich](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Kirsten_Redlich)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 10:18am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/23 "2016-08-02T10:18:18Z")
Valli, depending on where this is going perhaps could add a link to what to plant? I know , here that there are plenty of reference sites for planting for bees. ---
**Author:** ![Thousand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@Thousand](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Thousand)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/24 "2016-08-02T11:29:52Z")
Kirsten, I quite agree that taking too much honey can cause problems. However in the UK we have had a terrible summer. Many of us have had bees starving in June and July despite taking no honey at all this year. A number of my friends, including a master beekeeper, have been feeding for the whole summer. Last year was the same - I lost a colony in June to starvation. I had not taken any honey, but if it rains al summer the bees simply can’t forage, and no amount of good intentions will feed them. They need sugar, and if they can’t go out and collect nectar the beekeeper must provide it. Please don’t suggest that it is necessarily down poor management - you might deter people from feeding when it is essential to do so. ---
**Author:** ![RBK](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/rbk/32/4134_2.png) [@RBK](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/RBK)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/25 "2016-08-02T12:28:33Z")
It’s not just commercial outfits. I would rather feed a hive than lose it. In many cases with swarms that are caught end of season they have had little to no chance to forage so must be supplemented to make it through winter. When I was in QLD I didn’t feed bees at all due to the longer warmer days. Now that I am down in Canberra, I have had many instances where feeding bees has been a necessity for them to survive. In many cases I actually leave all the honey on over winter, and extract when the build up starts occurring in spring. I don’t understand people who oppose feeding or attribute feeding to poor management, on the contrary, if you are vigilant enough to know that your bees need feeding in winter you are doing far better than many people who will open an empty hive in spring and wonder where their bees have gone. Feeding bees (with closed feeders in the hive) should never confused with feeding of bees in the open. ---
**Author:** ![Dee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dee/32/5840_2.png) [@Dee](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/26 "2016-08-02T13:07:21Z")
I would echo thousand. It has been a terrible year yet again it has rained practically every day for 2 months and August looks no better. Little honey and lots of invert again ---
**Author:** ![Dee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dee/32/5840_2.png) [@Dee](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/27 "2016-08-02T15:27:02Z")
No neighbours. I live in the middle of nowhere 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Valli](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/valli/32/159_2.png) [@Valli](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Valli)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/28 "2016-08-02T19:34:44Z")
I must have been lucky this year, last year I had to feed, this year the Limes have given my girls loads but in June I did have to feed all my girls except Emerald - my Flow hive ---
**Author:** ![Kirsten\_Redlich](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/kirsten_redlich/32/5093_2.png) [@Kirsten\_Redlich](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Kirsten_Redlich)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 9:50am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/29 "2016-08-03T09:50:54Z")
Not intending to suggest is from _poor_ management. However there have been many posts from new beekeepers, or people in first year of keeping a hive in a big hurry to push colony size & honey ouputs. I do understand there are circumstances which necessitate action or complete loss of hive, I was referring to ‘normal’ or stable hive circumstances rather than the exceptional. It would be interesting to hear from an experienced practitioner of natural beekeeping , what their response to your circumstances would be? There are degrees of ‘intervention’ within this practice too. ---
**Author:** ![Kirsten\_Redlich](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/kirsten_redlich/32/5093_2.png) [@Kirsten\_Redlich](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Kirsten_Redlich)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/30 "2016-08-03T10:00:14Z")
I didn’t say poor management, perhaps I shouldn’t have used that word. And perhaps I needed to qualify, of course there are circumstances where people feel it’s feed or they starve. I was referring to situations as per my response to Phillip, not colonies swarming unseasonly or extremes of weather. I don’t understand the robbing of healthy hives, when they have honey, to the point where they have not enough stores & must be fed sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Debz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/debz/32/8862_2.png) [@Debz](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Debz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/31 "2016-08-05T22:17:51Z")
Hi Valli can I re use your poster at our local bee club ? ---
**Author:** ![Debz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/debz/32/8862_2.png) [@Debz](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Debz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/32 "2016-08-06T07:28:44Z")
Can I borrow this poster vallie. Would like to put on our local Bee Club FB? ---
**Author:** ![Valli](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/valli/32/159_2.png) [@Valli](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Valli)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/33 "2016-08-06T20:50:02Z")
Sorry been very busy at Blenheim all week - Yes you can use it just attribute it to me as I designed the Queen Bee Logo ---
**Author:** ![Debz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/debz/32/8862_2.png) [@Debz](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Debz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/34 "2016-08-06T22:36:26Z")
Some Supermarket bought honey contains AFB spores so another good reason NOT to feed out to bees. ---
**Author:** ![Debz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/debz/32/8862_2.png) [@Debz](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Debz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/35 "2016-08-06T22:37:49Z")
Ok many Thanks, shall do. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Debbie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/debbie/32/21130_2.png) [@Debbie](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Debbie)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/36 "2016-08-08T21:25:07Z")
Not only that robbing bees spread AFB! ---
**Author:** ![Valli](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/valli/32/159_2.png) [@Valli](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Valli)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 9:01am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/37 "2016-08-16T09:01:37Z")
Prompted to make this after saw something similar for Kids - Our Bees are our Kids ![](https://cdck-file-uploads-us1.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/2X/a/a79e436f930e6a5cda64d43aae573f36a0d75650.PNG) ---
**Author:** ![JeffH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/jeffh/32/7192_2.png) [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/38 "2016-08-16T10:00:40Z")
I’ve heard over the years how governments subsidize a lot of primary industry sectors. Particularly in the U.S. I wonder if beekeeping has every been subsidized in an effort to bring more people into the industry & help save the bees. ---
**Author:** ![Dee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dee/32/5840_2.png) [@Dee](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dee)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:18pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/39 "2016-08-16T12:18:58Z")
Not here, Jeff. It will get worse when we leave the EU too. My area has been waiting for a Seasonal Bee Inspector for nearly a year. DEFRA or The Nationsl Bee Unit or FERA or APHA or whatever they call themselves these days are cutting back. God help the south of England when hornets and beetles arrive. There are various organisations that like to get on the bee decline bandwagon and planting flowers is consumer friendly. Of course it will help. A bunch of wild flowers is better than a strummed roadside but we need proper wildlife management and a decent government department that gets on with the job rather than changing its name all the time. We also need our British Beekeeping Assiciation to be more pro active for the beekeepers they are supposed to represent and less hand in glove with the pesticide companies. Sorry. Rant over ---
**Author:** ![RBK](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/rbk/32/4134_2.png) [@RBK](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/RBK)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066/40 "2016-08-16T12:42:17Z")
It’s funny you mention the ‘bee decline bandwagon’… I must admit I am getting a little fatigued by the amount of people jumping on it in Australia to make a quick buck or promote their cause. [Previous page](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/people-putting-food-out-for-bees/8066.md?page=3)