Bees without nectar and climate change: can water and sugar help?

n the last period, bees have been the center of attention in every part of the globe. Much has been said about their weakening over the years which has led them to become a species to be protected at all costs. climate change , the use of polluting chemical pesticides and many other factors have created an increasingly less hospitable environment for bees that are currently in serious difficulty.

The survival of this species is really in danger due to the scarcity of nectar available and the continuous and sudden climate changes. Our world is changing rapidly and with it the first ecosystemic imbalances are starting to arise. In recent years alone, millions of bees have disappeared. We have witnessed the decimation of entire hives caused not only by the scarcity of food, but also by the arrival of alien predators from other geographical areas.

For beekeepers this is a real challenge that has jeopardized the continuation of their business and the survival of their swarms.

How to help the bees

Helping bees is essential to preserve the well-being of the entire planet. As we all know by now, bees are an irreplaceable wealth for our Earth. These insects are responsible for about a third of the world's food we have available for our nourishment. Their immense work of pollination allows the natural cycles to continue to repeat themselves. Pollination by bees is responsible for the reproduction of numerous species of plants and flowers.

To support the work and life of bees, numerous initiatives have been proposed that aim to partially resolve their weakening. The recent challenge that these insects had to face had to do with the scarcity of nectar available for their nourishment. Climate change has also weakened plants and flowers that no longer offer the same food options for bees.

Nectar is the primary material used for honey production . The honey is then stored in the hives and through a large supply of this substance, the bees are able to survive. Little nectar means little honey and consequently, food shortages result in the death of entire swarms.

Water and sugar instead of flower nectar

The bad weather conditions that cause the loss of entire blooms put a strain on the work of bees . In recent days there has been much talk of a "do it yourself" solution in which anyone can give their contribution to help the bees. The idea is to place outside, on balconies or windows, a teaspoon of water and sugar to feed and help bees in difficulty. What the initiative claims is that this blend would be able to provide nutrition to weakened bees by providing them with an alternative food source . But does this method work?

Feeding bees with glucose syrup: does it work?

Diluting sugar and water and placing it in a teaspoon can help recover some bees that are looking for food and are close to exhaustion. In fact, sugars can help them regain some strength and survive longer.

Beekeepers also use a kind of sugar mixture for bees as support. The substance is defined as: glucose syrup . The syrup in question is nothing more than a concentrated aqueous solution of natural sugars. You can prepare it by boiling a liter of water and a kilo of sugar for half an hour, adding 0.3 g of citric acid, or alternatively by squeezing some simple lemon (half is enough.) When the solution becomes clear, just leave it a part near an external space. The sugar will immediately attract insects, especially bees.

Obviously this is not a long-term solution since water and sugar cannot replace all the nutrients present in the nectar of flowers . It is therefore a temporary aid that can partly give support to these animals. Other initiatives that we can take are for example those relating to the planting of plants and flowers useful to bees such as: tulip, rosemary, chives, sage, phlox, borage, lavender, marigold, calendula, mallow, Facelia , echinacea, yarrow and even sunflower.

Save bees but also beekeepers

The shortage of nectar has led many beekeepers to feed their bees through this method using support syrup . In this way, however, the beekeepers face numerous losses and continue to feed the bees not for their own personal gain but to allow them to survive.

The honey that beekeepers take is usually that in excess, the rest of the kg of honey remains in the hive as the bees feed on it. When bees don't produce honey, they die. For this they are fed with sugar, the compound is used only for their subsistence but the beekeepers do not obtain any production of honey. It is therefore important that local authorities act as much as possible to protect farms and to provide concrete help in view of a possible resolution of the problem.

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