# Feeding Worm Tea to Bees



## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

I think your leg was being pulled... or I hope so... I'm afraid I'd need much more info before I'd mix Worm tea with sugar water to give to my bees.


----------



## tdsewell (Feb 27, 2012)

Andrew Dewey said:


> I think your leg was being pulled... or I hope so... I'm afraid I'd need much more info before I'd mix Worm tea with sugar water to give to my bees.


I kinda was thinking the same thing but, I still learn something new all the time. I posted to see if anyone else has information on this Worm Tea.


----------



## stan.vick (Dec 19, 2010)

tdsewell said:


> I kinda was thinking the same thing but, I still learn something new all the time. I posted to see if anyone else has information on this Worm Tea.


 Never heard of it being used to mix with sugar syrup, but I use Red Oak bark extract that I make up myself to mix with the sugar syrup to lower the PH, so it will be more like honey. Worm Tea would most likely do the same thing. Just guessing.


----------



## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

I don't know about worm tea in sugar water, but bees do like to drink water out of compost piles.


----------



## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I cupped the top of a 2 ton pile of hog manure to catch rainwater which helps to decompose the pile. Whenever it rains the top of the pile is bee central.


----------



## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

If you feed much syrup in the spring a little will end up in the honey supers if you are not careful. I would hate to tell a customer I mix water from compost with my sugar syrup.


----------



## thenance007 (May 25, 2011)

It would probably be a good source of probiotics and minerals and I would consider using a dilute solution in August after the honey supers have been taken off and while the bees are building up for winter. Kind of like a natural tonic. But I'm open to trying that kind of stuff and don't depend on it for my livelihood. Problem is, the worm tea most likely loses its probiotic benefits pretty quickly, so if you stored it for more than a few days, you would lose a lot of the value


----------



## Gord (Feb 8, 2011)

Worm tea is made by soaking worm castings in water.
It's full of enzymes that give plants a good kick start.
Never heard of giving it to bees.


----------



## Chris A. (Nov 2, 2021)

tdsewell said:


> I was at the Farm Market today selling some of my honey and I saw a guy there with a milk jug filled with a dark liquid. I asked him what it was and he said it was Worm Tea. I asked him what it was used for and he told me that another beekeeper get 25 gallons from him every year. I asked what he used it for and he said the guy mixed it with sugar water and fed it to his bee. He said the beekeeper said it helped with mites and other things bad for bees.
> 
> Worm Tea is a liquid that runs off of compost basically a bi-product. The Worm Tea is made at the local University greenhouse and is 100% organic.
> 
> I was wondering if anyone else knows anything about this or if anyone else feeds their bees Worm Tea.


I think the worms tea to which they are referring to is made from a handful of fresh worm castings (worm poop; sold on eBay), in 5 gallon bucket filled with fresh rainwater of reverse osmosis water, vigorously aerated for 24 to 48 hours with a couple of tablespoons of molasses. It may also be warmed using an aquarium heater/thermostat to around 75oF/24oC. The solution is an amazing plant food and has demonstrated therapeutic properties to worms, animals and plants. The aeration must be very vigorous. It will froth considerably. Otherwise you'll create an anaerobic environment typically inhabited by pathogens or anaerobes generating toxic hydrogen sulphide. 

I am an experienced worm keeper and breeder, however, I have not yet ventured into bees. I wondered if it may be used as a spray within the hive? The mixture is rammed packed with good bacteria that outcompete the bad. Also it may be possible to use it as a kind of sanitising footbath at hive entrances. Not experiments I can preform as yet. I guess there is a certain risk to anything, albeit it is unlikely to precipitate illness. 

Interesting discussion

Chris


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Dr Sheppard is working with Paul Stamets on fungus for bee health and for control of Varroa. Stamets first noticed bees working on getting water from fungus and got Dr. Sheppard started researching it. It's not that far fetched. I don't plan on trying it without more evidence.


----------



## Chris A. (Nov 2, 2021)

Michael Bush said:


> Dr Sheppard is working with Paul Stamets on fungus for bee health and for control of Varroa. Stamets first noticed bees working on getting water from fungus and got Dr. Sheppard started researching it. It's not that far fetched. I don't plan on trying it without more evidence.


Microorganisms excrete not only signalling molecules that help orchestrate collective agendas, but they also excrete molecules that are toxic to their competitors. One example would be antibiotics from moulds and another bacteriocins from bacteria. Use nature against nature. Remarkably the Russians did such research back in the 1950s using bacteriophage (bacterial viruses) to kill bacterial disease within wounds. It worked phenomenally well. Worm tea is one of nature’s wonders. Being a worm scientist I wouldn’t underestimate is potential.


----------



## Jim 134 (Dec 1, 2007)

I do know... Honeybees collect moisture.. From cow Patty's and horse apples.. As well as goat grapes.. Hahaha

BEE HAPPY 😊 Jim 134


----------



## Some Bloke (Oct 16, 2021)

I have a small wormery. I was under the impression worm tea is a polite name for worm wee (urine), the liquid runoff, very nitrogen rich and good for accelerating composting. I might experiment with putting some in a tray and seeing if the bees like it, but no way am I putting that filthy stuff directly in the hive! I sure wouldn't spray it round my house! "Natural" and "Organic" doesn't mean "Magic cure all".


----------

