Author Topic: Feeding bees sugar syrup  (Read 5049 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Jacobs

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 149
  • Thanked: 22 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Which one do I keep?
  • Location: Greensboro, NC
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #20 on: December 06, 2018, 07:38:29 am »
I use a cheap stock pot.  I'll fill it about 3/4's full of sugar, add very hot tap water and keep adding until the pot is almost full.  I stir the mix some with a large wooden spoon and then put it on the stove and heat the mix until good and warm (but below boiling) and stir the last of the sugar into the liquid.  It is not an exact mix, but makes around 4 gallons of a thick sugar syrup.  When it cools, I store it in 1 gallon glass pickle jars and thin it to around 1:1 if needed at that ratio.  I read somewhere, maybe on this forum, that adding 1TBS of apple cider vinegar per gallon slows mold build up.  I have been doing this and it works well for me.  The syrup smells a bit funky,  but the bees take it, and the half gallon I have had sitting around as 2:1 in my kitchen has been there 3 weeks with no mold.  Once it is thinned to 1:1 it needs to be used or refrigerated.

Offline SoulflyUA

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Thanked: 2 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Ukraine
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #21 on: December 18, 2018, 01:46:04 am »
Boil water, add sugar,use a paint drill mixer.It's an easy and fast way


« Last Edit: December 18, 2018, 06:31:38 am by SoulflyUA »

Offline tecumseh

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 856
  • Thanked: 71 times
  • Location: College Station, Tx.
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #22 on: December 18, 2018, 09:02:52 am »
due to viscosity (2 to 1 will get very thick when it gets the least bit cold) and the additional fact I want the bees to pick up the syrup very quickly I never feed anything besides 1 to 1 < excepting on occasion when I am feeding bees for queen rearing purpose in which case I sometime feed syrup thinner than 1 to 1.


Offline SoulflyUA

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Thanked: 2 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Ukraine
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #23 on: December 18, 2018, 01:39:09 pm »
due to viscosity (2 to 1 will get very thick when it gets the least bit cold) and the additional fact I want the bees to pick up the syrup very quickly I never feed anything besides 1 to 1 < excepting on occasion when I am feeding bees for queen rearing purpose in which case I sometime feed syrup thinner than 1 to 1.
The thinner your syrup is, the more efforts should the bees make in order to get rid of extra water, because honey contains less than 20% of water.

Balcony beekeeping in Kiev, Ukraine.


Offline Bakersdozen

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 4509
  • Thanked: 482 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Olathe, Kansas
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #24 on: December 18, 2018, 04:59:13 pm »
.
The thinner your syrup is, the more efforts should the bees make in order to get rid of extra water, because honey contains less than 20% of water.

Balcony beekeeping in Kiev, Ukraine.
[/quote]

Hi Soulfly!  Welcome to the forum.  I would be very interested in hearing about beekeeping in the Ukraine.  Perhaps you can post something about your experiences?

Offline SoulflyUA

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Thanked: 2 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Ukraine
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #25 on: December 19, 2018, 06:21:42 am »
.
The thinner your syrup is, the more efforts should the bees make in order to get rid of extra water, because honey contains less than 20% of water.

Balcony beekeeping in Kiev, Ukraine.

Hi Soulfly!  Welcome to the forum.  I would be very interested in hearing about beekeeping in the Ukraine.  Perhaps you can post something about your experiences?
[/quote]

Hi)
Of course I can tell everything I know))))
As I live in Kiev, the weather hear is like in Winnipeg (the same latitude).
Winter comes in November-December and lasts till late March.
Ask what you wish))

Balcony beekeeping in Kiev, Ukraine.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 06:25:00 am by SoulflyUA »

Offline tecumseh

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 856
  • Thanked: 71 times
  • Location: College Station, Tx.
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #26 on: December 19, 2018, 01:46:58 pm »
a snip...
The thinner your syrup is, the more efforts should the bees make in order to get rid of extra water, because honey contains less than 20% of water.

my comment..
it also creates a bit of heat and activity in the conversion.... here where the winters are almost non existent (cold snaps are short in duration) this often encourages a bit of mid winter brood rearing....

in places with any real winter the extra water would be a real liability in the hive due to the ice forming above the cluster...

Offline SoulflyUA

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Thanked: 2 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Ukraine
Re: Feeding bees sugar syrup
« Reply #27 on: December 19, 2018, 04:40:31 pm »
a snip...
The thinner your syrup is, the more efforts should the bees make in order to get rid of extra water, because honey contains less than 20% of water.

my comment..
it also creates a bit of heat and activity in the conversion.... here where the winters are almost non existent (cold snaps are short in duration) this often encourages a bit of mid winter brood rearing....

in places with any real winter the extra water would be a real liability in the hive due to the ice forming above the cluster...
That's right about the winter but I meant a bit different thing. Before bees close honey cells with wax, they have to get rid of extra water. This manipulation exhausts them very much and weak bees might not survive during long winter period.

Balcony beekeeping in Kiev, Ukraine.