View Full Version : Spilled Sugar Syrup
Denon Carpenter
07-24-2009, 10:24 PM
I'm hoping there is somone out there as clumsy as me. I spilled about a quart of sugar syrup with honey b healthy in a hive yesterday when I was removing a feeder. Luckily it was late in the evening overcast and cool. Early the next morning I went out and placed a wet sheet over the hive and stapled a piece of wire mesh over the entrance with a small exit/entrace near the top to try to prevent robbing.
Has anyone ever made this mistake before?
Do I need to worry about my bees dying from being drenched with the syrup?
How long should I wait to open up the hive to examine?
How long should I keep the sheet and screen in place?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
RayMarler
07-24-2009, 11:38 PM
I had a bucket of honey spring a leak and dump over 2 gallons of honey on the carpet in the pantry room a few years back :doh:
I'm no expert in this, but I don't think I would have put the sheet on them. Maybe a robber screen for a day or two, if you're in a nectar dearth. How strong was the hive? If they got any strength of numbers at all, they probably already have the mess cleaned up. Don't worry, I bet the bees are just fine. Check them out tomorrow or the next day, see how they doing with cleaning up the syrup mess.
Ravenseye
07-25-2009, 07:06 AM
Watch for robbing but I bet they'll clean it up pretty fast. It's better than dropping it on the OUTSIDE of the hive. You might lose a few bees from getting soaked but not too many after the initial spill.
Terry Small, Jr
07-25-2009, 08:05 AM
You said it was in a hive. I wouldn't be to worried about it. Unless you were lucky enough to totally drown the queen, the girls will clean up your mess.
On the other hand, we had a guy who had a habit of doing things he shouldn't. One Tuesday he chose not to to use the twine at the top of the the truck tank to secure the hose from the storage tank from the pump behind our shop. He was sent home for the rest of the week to 'think about it' after the hose fell out and pumped about 30 gallons of syrup onto the ground. After 'thinking about it', he never came back.