08/20/2026
I don’t agree with everything he says but he’s on point on most subjects
Leaving cracked watermelons near your apiary during a late summer dearth might seem like a generous treat, but you are practically offering your colonies a toxic cocktail of fermented garbage.
I'm not even exaggerating, and with sadness, I know that so many of you love to feed your bees with watermelons.
I strongly hope that with this post I might convince some of you to not do that.
First of all, you need to understand that when natural floral nectar dries up in late season, desperate foragers will eagerly mob anything with a hint of sweetness to bring liquid back to the hive.
The first major problem is that watermelon is over 90% water and contains a very weak sugar concentration of only 6 to 10%.
Natural floral nectar typically contains 30 to 50% soluble sugars, meaning your bees must burn massive amounts of metabolic energy just fanning and evaporating this excess fluid.
Because the brood nest sits at a constant 35C, storing this watery melon juice triggers rapid yeast fermentation within 24 to 48h.
This rapid fermentation produces toxic alcohols and volatile organic acids that bees are physiologically unequipped to detoxify.
Oh, you think that's all?
Bees are strictly carbohydrate adapted organisms designed to process simple sugars, and their digestive tract completely lacks the enzymes required to break down complex fruit pectins and cellulose fibers.
When adult workers and young nurse bees ingest these indigestible fruit sugars and pectins, the unabsorbed solids pack into their little gut and can cause severe dysentery across your combs.
That leads to another problem, and there's a reason why bees would rather die before pooping inside the hive.
I'm talking about Nosema.
My definitive conclusion on this topic, and no one in this universe can change my mind, is that letting your bees gather on discarded melons during a dearth is one of the fastest ways to destroy their gut microbiome right before winter.
If you enjoyed this article, I invite you to read the first chapter of my book (You can find it in my bio 🙏)
Happy beekeeping and full barrels 🐝🍯
