Author Topic: Feeding bees crystalized honey  (Read 1730 times)

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Offline Bakersdozen

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Feeding bees crystalized honey
« on: September 21, 2020, 01:18:50 pm »
Has anyone ever fed your own crystalized honey back to your bees?  I have some honey that crystalized and formed a 3/4 inch solid sheet.  I broke it up and stored it in a sealed container in the fridge.  I plan to put the crystalized honey in an aluminum pie pan and place a deep shim over the inner cover.  I'll put the pie pan on top of the inner cover.   My concern is that the heat from the hive will melt the crystalized honey and cause bees to drown.  Our daytime temps are still in the high 70's.  Any thoughts?

Offline iddee

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Re: Feeding bees crystalized honey
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2020, 02:24:32 pm »
I would put the pie pan in the oven at minimum temp and liquefy it.  Then add an equal amount of water and put it in a feeder.
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Offline Jen

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Re: Feeding bees crystalized honey
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2020, 03:02:17 am »
Iddee has a good idea. But I have put all kinds of honey in different forms into the hives during winter the same way you do with a 1" spacer on top of the inner cover. I have found that the bees don't crawl up the side of the pie tin very well. So I use a cheap paper plate with a low rim, and have even cut that rim down a ways so the bees can actually put their front legs on the edge and lift up and eat. This is the way I do my sludge from the extractor.

You can also use a 'fresh' pollen patty like playdoh :D Get some wax paper and form a ring on it, say the diameter of a tea cup saucer, or whatever size you want. Press it down onto the wax paper, fill the center with your crystalized honey. Tons of food right there!

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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Feeding bees crystalized honey
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2020, 12:44:40 am »
newspaper, they will chew it up, chew holes in it etc to get to the crystallized honey.. and I don't put it on until the temps get closer to the VERY low 60's or upper 50's in prep for winter. The paper can hold even if damp, at least until they chew through it. They should have SOME stores, so they shouldnt be chewing through the paper until it is Late winter and COLD, AND they have exhausted the stores they did have...
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Feeding bees crystalized honey
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2020, 10:46:13 am »
newspaper, they will chew it up, chew holes in it etc to get to the crystallized honey.. and I don't put it on until the temps get closer to the VERY low 60's or upper 50's in prep for winter. The paper can hold even if damp, at least until they chew through it. They should have SOME stores, so they shouldnt be chewing through the paper until it is Late winter and COLD, AND they have exhausted the stores they did have...
This was what I was wanting to do, but I wanted to do it now.  Temperatures have been in the low 80's but cooler temperatures are moving in today.  I have a couple of hives that are light.  The others are so heavy I can't hardly lift a deep brood box.  Some colonies have already moved the queen down and have filled the top box with 10 frames of honey stores.
I did as iddee suggested, I melted some of the crystalized honey and mixed with equal part water.  I put this on a nuc with a robbing screen.  It's kind of an experiment.

Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Feeding bees crystalized honey
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2020, 08:06:16 pm »
Yep, in warmer weather thats the ticket! Iddee is so smart!  C:-)    :yes:
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