A lot of recipients have spoken on what the bees eat but I have not seen anyone comment on why or how.  I would like, for the sake of those who may be coming into beekeeping ("newbies," not my preferred terminology, the how part.

Bees, we all know are remarkable individuals in many ways.  They are quite capable of performing unlikely acts, one of which is the ability to "eat" solids when they have no teeth and weak mandibles.  In any event, bees are capable of consuming solids as long as they have ample amounts of liquids to dissolve them.  The mechanism is rather simple.  All they do is to add a droplet of liquid to a solid which they may want to eat and simply suck it up afterwards. (Incidentally, there are insects with similar habits). I imagine that they are quite capable of ingesting parts of the solids which remain "dissolved" in the substances that they absorb.  So, it would seem that they are able to ingest substances in suspension in their "liquid" diet.

I am having a hard time keeping away from chemistry terminology so as not to confuse some of the readers.

Best regards.

Dr. Rodriguez

Virginia Beach, VA