Natural Beekeeping Network

[Ness]

If sugar syrup appears to be an inadequate food source for bees compared with honey. Is tree sap ever considered? Could it be collected in the spring when sap rising, and turned into a syrup for bees when they next need feeding?

[professor]

An interesting subject. I've never known a beekeeper who took the time to boil the sap down and then fed it to his bees. It may have some merit but there would be work involved as it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gal. of syrup. My knowledge of these syrups is lacking but I understand that they are mostly levulose which shouldn't pose a problem to bees. Whether they contain detrimental gums or other substances...?? Unfortunately I would have to use the maple syrup myself on hotcakes or something else and the bees would get the granulated sugar syrup.
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Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do. ~Michel de Montaigne

[DavesBees]

I read somewhere that maple syrup was in fact harmful to the bees. I’m sorry I do not have the reference available. I collect sap every year and always have syrup on hand so I searched the topic and read the negative reports.
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Dave
http://www.davesbees.com

PM me if you are interested in beekeeping in the Wheeling WV area.
Bees in a tree are where they should be.

[Ness]

Thank you for the replies. Maybe different tree saps have different effects? I shall also look into this.

[biobee]

I suggest you take a careful look at Birch sap - I think this has possibilities. For one thing, it contains methyl salicylate, which has been shown to be toxic to Varroa.

This is a line of enquiry that I haven't had time to investigate, but I think it may be interesting.
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The Barefoot Beekeeper
The podcast
Guide to Swarming and Swarm Management

[EricHalfBee]

Presumably this sap is also a source of Salicylic acid (a similar formulation to aspirin) I wonder how it would affect the bees? Birch sap can be harvested from mature Birch trees in March when the sap is rising and you can collect a gallon or so from each tree. Make sure you stop the hole up tho, or the tree will 'bleed' to death. Maybe if you were feeding bees, you could make the syrup up with Birch sap. It tastes very clean and weirdly 'dry'. I have made wine out of it!! It isn't very sweet?