In many cases it is recommended to revive weak and downed bees with a sugary energy kick and thus save one or two honey bee lives. Unfortunately, these tips, as well-intentioned as they may be, are anything but healthy for these hard-working insects.
Social media recommends serving them a tasty dish of grated apples, often combined with water or even a little honey, to get tired bees going again.
However, these treats are anything but good for the beneficial insects and cause more harm than they can fix.
Since the natural fermentation process of fresh fruit inevitably produces alcohol, which has a rather repellent effect on our honey bees, this tip will only attract unpleasant wasps.
“You can catch mice with bacon,” but what do bees like?
Honey bees feed primarily on the honey produced by their colony. Anyone who thinks they can let the busy insects nibble on their honey bread is wrong. The sweet nectar from the supermarket, which is usually heated, treated and enriched with corn syrup, can contain pathogens of bee diseases that, although harmless to humans, can be fatal to local honey bees.
As already reported , you can help lethargic bumblebees get back on their feet with a tablespoon of sugar water in a ratio of 3:4, i.e. 3 parts sugar to 4 parts cold water. Even the bees like this, even if experts advise against this, as sugar solutions can increase the transmission of pathogens and could be harmful if prepared incorrectly.
“Fresh sugar water is also used in beekeeping and is made available to the bee colony after honey has been collected to ensure a food supply over the winter months. As a beekeeper you could also leave the honey in the hive, but as a beekeeper you lose the valuable honey and, depending on the variety, it can quickly crystallize and be used by the bee without adding water, which is not available in the hive over the winter can no longer be taken.”
We asked amateur beekeeper Maria.
However, it is better if you offer the insects a flat container filled with stones with fresh water to strengthen them for their onward journey, as the oppressive summer heat can make it particularly difficult for them to continue flying and natural water resources are increasingly limited. You should make sure that the water does not cover the stones to avoid drowning.
You can find instructions for a decorative bee trough HERE .
Do bees really find less food in summer?
The shared bee rescuer appeal emphasizes that the summer months do not provide enough food for our winged friends. This may certainly be the case in some cities and metropolitan areas, but here too you can specifically counteract it by consciously planting bee food plants in the garden, on the terrace or on the balcony and providing the useful insects with food and a habitat.
Lavender, for example, not only blooms as a potted plant on the terrace or in a pot on the balcony all summer long and captivates the senses with its scent, but also has the positive side effect that annoying visitors such as mosquitoes give it a wide berth you can really enjoy the warm summer nights.
If you have a garden, you can transform open spaces with just a few plants into a true paradise for bees, bumblebees and butterflies. You can find a large selection of annual to perennial bee food plants HERE .
If you can spare a larger area, you should definitely consider converting some of the available green space into a flower meadow. There are already a variety of flower meadow mixtures with a wide variety of seeds that are specifically tailored to the needs of beneficial insects. How you can ensure the best conditions for the growth of small seedlings and what you need to pay particular attention to when preparing the soil and sowing is explained in this informative video .
Conclusion
Bees like honey and sugar water, but they much prefer flowers, blossoms and fresh water and sometimes just being left alone. What they, insects and other beneficial insects really need is a protected, natural habitat and a garden that is free of pesticides and rich in flowering diversity.
Source: Somewhere in West Cornwall
Related: Yes! Dissolved sugar makes bumblebees fit again.
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )