Feed
Feed if the box is light
Citrus is over. Palmetto is over. On the Central Florida management calendar, July is when the main nectar flow stops. August’s first line is feed if the colony is light — and, in parentheses, that colonies can starve. Orange, Seminole, and Osceola sit in that central band. A hive that still looks busy on the landing board can already be empty inside.
Feed colonies if light. Colonies can starve.
What the calendar says for this band
The Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar splits the state into three tables. Orlando uses the Central Florida table: Marion County through Sarasota County. July: take off and process surplus honey; the main flow is done. August: feed if light, sample Varroa (three mites per 100 bees is the threshold they print), watch small hive beetles, and ventilate because the month is hot. September: if nothing is flowing, feed if light. Super only if Brazilian pepper is actually running in that yard. October through December repeats feed if light, with the same starvation warning.
January and February keep the lift, and they add pollen supplements when the colony needs protein. A Florida winter is not a northern rest. Keeping Bees in Florida is why: queens here can lay almost any month, so the box keeps burning stores while a Michigan colony would be clustered. The year board walks all twelve months. This page is the hunger stretch — July’s last jar through a light January.
| Month | Stores | Also on the row |
|---|---|---|
| July | Main flow stops. Take surplus honey. | Do not leave a wet, empty super as extra room to defend. |
| August | Feed if light. Colonies can starve. | Sample mites. Watch beetles. Ventilate. |
| September | Feed if no nectar is coming in. | Super only if a real late flow is on. |
| October–December | Feed if light. Same starvation warning. | Beetles and mites do not take the fall off. |
| January–February | Feed if light. | Pollen supplement when brood needs protein. |
Weight first, recipe last
Heft the back of the hive. Tilt from the rear: a colony with stores resists; a light one comes up too easily. Do that in the same clothes, on the same afternoon, so you are comparing this box to itself, not to a memory of July. Traffic on the landing board is not a scale. Bees can look busy while they eat the last of the spring.
- Stand behind the hive. Lift the back a few inches. Feel the weight.
- If it is light, feed. Use the ratio printed on the feed you bought, not a guess from a forum.
- If it is heavy, leave it. Extra syrup in a full box is a mess, not insurance.
- Check again after a hot week. A Central Florida August burns stores fast.
The management calendar does not print a sugar-to-water ratio in the August row, and this page does not invent one. Read the feed label. Then feed. A hive-top or frame feeder that actually sits in a Langstroth is the tool for that job. Get this.
Pollen is a separate job. The Benefits of Pollen to Honey Bees is the UF/IFAS nutrition paper: protein builds brood; sugar keeps the cluster from starving. Mixing those jobs is how a keeper buys the wrong bag. A pollen patty does not replace the lift. Spanish needles (Bidens) in a ditch can put color on incoming bees and still leave the box light after July. When pollen is short, a substitute patty is the protein side of the same month. Get this. The lecture that unpacks bee bread, protein percentages, and why one bloom is not a diet lives on Pollen.
Heat rides along
The same August row says it is hot, so ventilate, and it names small hive beetles in the same breath. A light, packed, overheated box is beetle habitat. Read small hive beetles for the pest paper. Sample mites on Varroa before you treat. Feeding a collapsing mite load is not a plan. The short August note still sits at the August info card if you want the one-screen row.
Brazilian pepper in September is a maybe, not a promise. Super if the flow is strong in that yard. If it is not, feed if light. That plant is invasive; it is a field note on a wild stand, not a landscaping plan. Keeping Bees in Florida records that some Central Florida Septembers see it. Do not plant it.
Can I skip feeding because I still see bees on Bidens?
No. Traffic is not stores. The calendar wants the lift. A yard in bloom can still leave a colony light after July.
What ratio of sugar to water?
Not on this page. The August calendar row does not print one. Use the ratio on the feed you are actually using, and open the live UF/IFAS paper if you are following a written method.
Is a pollen patty the same as a feeder?
No. Syrup (or fondant) is stores. A pollen substitute is protein for brood. January and February on the central table name pollen supplements when needed. August’s first line is still the lift.
Sources
- Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar. UF/IFAS. Central Florida table: feed if light from August through winter. Colonies can starve.
- The Benefits of Pollen to Honey Bees. UF/IFAS. Protein and bee bread. Different job from syrup.
- Keeping Bees in Florida. UF/IFAS. Year-round brood. Stores do not get a northern January off.