One thing that differentiates Professional Bee Keepers from ordinary honey farmers is the Management side. Bees do NOT produce honey all year round, but the operational costs of a beekeeping business are incurred throughout the year, therefore good management will carry out budgeting or financial planning for the business for at least one full year.
Incorrect budgeting will usually make honey farmers burdened by bank debts and even loan sharks which will result in them having to harvest during the non-harvest season. So the bees are given sugar syrup or something similar to get the harvest to pay off the arrears.
During heavy winters or extreme weather in several European countries, it is also common for honey farmers there to provide additional feed in the form of sugar water or honey that is harvested but is below the appropriate standard. This is done so that the bees don’t starve to death, but they don’t necessarily force the bees to collect a lot of sugar water and then harvest and sell it.
