Honey is the result of a collective collaboration of the bees within the hive. The bees process the nectar (a sweet fluid collected from flowers and consisting of sugar, 80% water, and very small quantities of other ingredients) in their stomach, where it is enriched by enzymes secreted from their glands and made more concentrated. This process is repeated several times as the nectar is passed from bee to bee until the final droplet is regurgitated and spread into the empty cell. At this stage the honey is only partially ripe, as it is still too watery. After 1-3 days (depending on the hive’s humidity) the residual moisture drops to 20%. Once the cells are filled with the ripe honey, they are closed with a wax capping.

The entire colony is dependent on this stored honey for its survival. The bees use it continually for their own nourishment, and for feeding the young larvae. In special situations, such as swarming, setting up home and needing to build large amounts of comb, a lot of honey is needed in the highly energetic task of wax production. Keeping the brood nest at a steady temperature of around 36 degrees Celsius, and generally regulating the temperature of the hive in response to the weather conditions outside, also calls for a lot of hard work. And, last not least, honey is needed in large quantities (some 40 lbs for an average-size colony) to ensure survival in the winter.

Until two centuries ago beekeepers understood the vital role of honey for the well-being of the bee colony . The only honey harvested was the true surplus which was still in the hive in the spring following the year of its collection by the bees. This is an ancient practice well worth reviving now. Preferably this honey should be taken at a time of certain nectar flow, usually mid-April or whenever the willow or dandelion yields.

Harvesting honey late in summer or in early autumn, as is commonplace today and advocated by nearly every beekeeping book on the market, carries the risk of depriving the bees of their own food supply and exposing them to starvation, especially during wet summers (no full foraging) or very dry summers (no nectar flow), not to mention protracted and damp winters.

There is no substitute for honey, this finest and purest food, the only substance perfectly suited to the metabolism of the honeybee and for the rearing of its young. The widespread practice of substituting sugar water for the honey taken from the bees has no place in a natural beekeeping approach aimed at restoring the honeybee’s vitality and health.

The responsible beekeeper will ensure that sufficient honey reserves are kept aside for the purpose of feeding the bees in his or her care in times of need. Of course, beekeepers in their first year will not have such reserves. What to do? The first course of action is to try and source local honey from a reputable beekeeper. If that is not possible, or in case of great urgency, such as when a colony is found on the brink of starvation, a sugar/water solution containing at least 10% of honey, some camomile tea and a pinch of salt should be offered to the bees.

Starvation of bees should never ever happen. When it does, it will surely be a wake-up call to the beekeeper which he or she will take seriously.