What Do Bees Eat?
Bees eat mostly two things:
Pollen and nectar.
Pollen is a bee’s main protein source, whereas nectar is a main carbohydrate source.(1)
That’s right.
Bees need protein and carbs just like humans do.
But that’s not all.
Pollen is also fed to baby bees (known as larvae) because it’s high in protein and rich in nutrients.
Here’s a video of a bee gathering nectar and pollen:
More importantly:
When bees buzz around from flower to flower, they gather pollen on their bodies. And when they move from each flower, they’re spreading this pollen around with them. This results in cross-pollination.
You might be asking:
Why does pollination matter?
Because pollination is essential for the survival of more than 75% of all flowering plants on Earth. In fact, pollinators like bees are responsible for 1 in 3 bites of food we eat.(2, 3)
In a nutshell:
Pollinators need us, and we need them.
What Do Bees Drink?
Now you might be wondering…
Do bees drink water?
Yes, they do.
Bees drink water from places like damp rocks, branches, ponds, muddy puddles, and water drops found on leaves or grass.
Bees not only drink the water, but some species (like honeybees) also use it for:
- Air conditioning – Honey bees will apply a thin layer of water over the developing bee cells on hot days to keep them cool. The water will evaporate, lowering the hive’s temperature.
- Feeding baby bees – The diet of nurse bees for developing larvae (also known as baby bees) is water, pollen, nectar, and royal jelly. This diet might be as high as 80% water on the first day.
- Diluting honey – Bees consume their own honey. The honey might crystallize or become thick at times. When this happens, bees use water to dilute the honey and make it edible again.
Can I Feed Bees?
Absolutely!
Now that begs the question:
What is the best food for bees?
Easy. Bee-friendly flowers.
More specifically, planting flowers that bloom in the early spring and late fall are good options.
How come?
Because early spring and late fall are when flower sources are sparse. This means bees sometimes struggle to find food during these times. That said, it doesn’t hurt to also plant flowers that bloom in the spring or summer too. Either way, you’re helping your local bees.
Check out our guide on the best flowers for bees for more options.
And now you might be thinking:
Well, what about water for bees?
Good question. Providing water can go a long way in helping your local bee population.
But, there are a few things you should know first. Bees can’t swim, so they’ll drown if the water is too deep. This means they need places to perch on while they drink water.
Read our post: How to Make a Safe Bee Waterer for more information.
FAQs about “What Do Bees Eat?”
- Do bees only eat nectar and pollen?
- Do bees eat fruit?
- What do bees eat when there are no flowers?
- Why do bees make honey if they don’t eat it?
- What do beekeepers feed bees?
- Do bees eat human food?
- Can I feed my bees dry sugar?
- Should you leave sugar water out for bees?
- What do baby bees eat?
- Do bees eat wood?
- Does the queen bee eat the same food as the workers?
- How do Africanized honey bees eat?
- How do bees eat if some never leave the hive?
- Is nectar only found in flowers?
- Do bees eat honeydew?
- Are bees vegetarian or vegan?
- Do bees eat royal jelly?
Do bees only eat nectar and pollen?
This is a frequently asked question, along with:
What food do bees need to survive? What do bees eat from flowers? What do bees eat and drink? What do bees eat in the fall? What do bees eat in the spring? What do bees eat in the summer? What do bees eat in the winter? What food can you give bees? What do you feed bees in the spring?
The answer is:
Bees mostly eat just pollen and nectar. However, there are some variations in bee diets based on the bee’s age and species.
For example, bees may resort to ripe fruit when nectar sources are low. Also, some beekeepers feed their bees sugar water during nectar dearths to help them survive.
They also might provide pollen patties to a beehive. Pollen patties don’t actually include pollen, but they’re meant to closely resemble the protein that pollen gives to a beehive.
Also, a type of bee called a “vulture bee” has evolved to eat meat instead of relying on pollen like other bees. And finally, honeybees eat their own honey during the winter to keep them alive.
So while most bees eat exclusively pollen and nectar, there are a few exceptions.
—> Go back to the “What Do Bees Eat?” FAQs
More to Explore:
- What Are Blue Orchard Bees?
- The Fascinating Life of Queen Bees
- Queen Bee Versus Worker Bees – How Do They Compare?
Do bees eat fruit?
If you’ve ever wondered…
Do bees eat bananas? Do bees eat strawberries? Do bees like rotten fruit?
The answer is yes. Sometimes bees will eat fruit. Usually, the fruit is ripe instead of rotten, though.
For example, bees will turn to fruit when there is a lack of nectar (such as during a drought). They’ve been known to feast on plums, peaches, grapes, apples, figs, and pears.
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What do bees eat when there are no flowers?
Bees improvise when they can’t find flowers by eating sugar from honeydew, sugar water from hummingbird feeders, and ripe fruit.
In some unfortunate cases, honey bees will “rob” other honeybee hives and steal their honey for food. This happens during a nectar dearth, which is any time when plants slow down or cease producing nectar.
A few causes of nectar dearths include:
- High temperatures
- Droughts
- Lack of flowers
That said, bees still need pollen from flowers to reproduce. But feeding on honeydew, sugar water, and fruit may be a way for them to survive until flowers bloom again.
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Why do bees make honey if they don’t eat it?
Actually, honeybees do eat their own honey.
Honey bees produce honey as a form of food storage. They eat it over the winter season when they can’t forage because it’s cold and fewer flowers are available for food.
So you might be asking:
What do bees eat when we take their honey?
When beekeepers are harvesting honey from a beehive, they leave enough behind for the bees to eat during the winter. If the bees don’t have enough honey during the colder months, they won’t survive.
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What do beekeepers feed bees?
Beekeepers sometimes feed their bees dry sugar, sugar water, pollen patties, and/or high fructose corn syrup.
Why do they do it?
Here are some reasons:
- During bad weather or nectar dearths, beekeepers will feed their bees because there aren’t enough flowers available.
- If beekeepers harvest honey from a beehive, sometimes they’ll provide sugar water temporarily.
- Beekeepers may feed a colony in the early spring to ‘get the bees going’ when the spring blooms aren’t plentiful. When the queen is fed, she becomes more eager to lay eggs. This means more workers will be available to gather nectar once flowers have bloomed
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Do bees eat human food?
People often ask, “Do bees eat bread?” and “What human food do bees eat?”
With the exception of fruit occasionally, bees don’t eat human food. Bees mostly only eat pollen and nectar from flowers.
Also, bees don’t eat human bread.
However, bees make and eat something called “bee bread,” which is about 75% pollen mixed with honey, nectar, and bee saliva. The protein is broken down by the probiotic bacteria and yeasts in their saliva.
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Can I feed my bees dry sugar?
Yes, if your bees need an emergency food source in the winter or early spring, dry sugar can help.
Here’s a video explaining this:
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Should you leave sugar water out for bees?
Depending on who you ask, this answer will vary. In fact, some people have strong opinions on this.
The simple answer is that sugar water is a substitute for nectar. Some beekeepers will feed their bees sugar water when nectar sources are low.
But here’s the thing:
Bees will only turn to sugar water when they don’t have enough nectar. If flowers are blooming and nectar is readily available, they won’t even touch sugar water.
That’s a good thing.
So my opinion?
Yes, you can leave sugar water out for bees. Sugar water can be a lifesaver for weak bee colonies or bees struggling during nectar dearths.
If they need it, they’ll eat it. If they don’t, they’ll leave it alone.
Of course, planting flowers for bees is a better option, but that’s not always possible depending on the time of year and how much space you have.
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What do baby bees eat?
Both pollen and nectar are fed to baby bees.
For honeybees, the baby bees will also eat honey. Royal jelly will be fed to the baby bees picked to become future queens. Royal jelly is a white secretion produced by young female worker bees. It’s made up of pollen and chemicals from the worker bee glands.
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Do bees eat wood?
No, bees don’t eat wood.
This is a common misconception when it comes to carpenter bees. Carpenter bees drill holes into wood for their nests. However, they don’t eat the wood – only drill it out so they can lay eggs. Carpenter bees eat pollen and nectar like other bees.
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Does the queen bee eat the same food as the workers?
It depends on the species of bee.
For example, queen honeybees eat royal jelly – this is where it gets the “royal” in its name.
Royal jelly is a milky secretion made by worker honeybees to feed baby and adult queen bees. Royal jelly is highly nutritious and allows the queen bees to grow larger than worker bees.
For other types of bees, like queen bumblebees, pollen and nectar is their main food source. Sometimes queen bumblebees will also eat the honey they store in nectar pots.
Read our guide, “Do Bumble Bees Make Honey?” for more information.
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More to Explore:
How do Africanized honey bees eat?
Like other honeybees, Africanized worker bees gather pollen and nectar from flowers to eat.
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How do bees eat if some never leave the hive?
Each bee has a different role in a hive.
For example, some bees will be worker bees responsible for gathering food, others will be security bees responsible for protecting the hive, and others will be nurse bees that tend to the baby bees and queens.
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Is nectar only found in flowers?
Yes, but not all plants produce nectar. For example, plants that are wind-pollinated won’t produce nectar.
Nectar is produced in glands known as nectaries found at the base of flowers.
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Do bees eat honeydew?
Yes, bees sometimes eat the sugar produced by honeydew. This can tide hungry bees over until other flowers are available. However, honeydew can’t replace pollen, which is vital for baby bees.
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Are bees vegetarian or vegan?
Surprisingly enough, bees are actually omnivores, and their meat is microbes.
According to a recent article published by Scientific American:
“Scientists have known for decades that fermenting microbes are present in pollen, but no one had seemed to consider whether they were also an important food for bees. Microbial meat is a necessary part of bees’ diet.”
That said, we sometimes get asked, “What birds do bees eat?”
The answer is that bees don’t eat birds. However, some birds eat bees.
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Do bees eat royal jelly?
Yes, queen honeybees eat royal jelly. In fact, the future baby queens are fed royal jelly exclusively—not pollen and honey like regular worker bees.
Without royal jelly, the larva would not have developed into a queen with the physical appearance and lifespan of a queen bee.
