By Phil Craft
Hobby farmers are accustomed to feeding and caring for animals, but sometimes it’s difficult to think of honeybees as livestock. After all, they’re basically wild creatures we give temporary shelter in exchange for honey and pollination. Yet, research has shown that even before they faced the threats of varroa mites, loss of native forage and widespread pesticide use, unmanaged colonies in the wild suffered losses as great as 50 percent a year. As caretakers, we can do better than that. Making sure that our bees have adequate nutrition at the proper times is one way to improve the odds.
1. Know When to Feed