Feeding and stress reduction

Feeding and stress reduction are supportive management practices for sacbrood. Sacbrood is often exacerbated by colony stress, including nutritional stress. Ensuring adequate food stores, either through honey reserves or supplemental feeding with sugar syrup, provides bees with the energy needed to combat the virus. Reducing hive stress involves minimizing disturbances, providing windbreaks in exposed locations, and offering shade during hot summers. Strong, well-nourished colonies are better equipped to overcome sacbrood infections. Supplemental feeding is a DIY approach and requires bee feeders to provide syrup. Syrup costs vary depending on sugar prices and volume.