Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

If 2:1 is Good, why not 3:1 or 4:1?

3K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  bnatural 
#1 ·
I need to build up a hives stores FAST!, or I know they won't have reserve to make the winter. The hive has a large brood ball in two deeps, but they haven't seemed to store any honey on the sides. I'm already feeding 2:1. I know there's a practical limit to the syrup ratio for top feeders, but I'm using baggies.

If you can feed straight baker's sugar during the winter, why not a higher ratio now for quicker drying time in a place more accessible to the winter cluster? ... or ... Is the 2:1 ratio just an economically accepted limit?

BB
 
#2 ·
The solubility of sugar hits a plateau at different temperatures.
If you make the syrup hot it can dissolve more sugar per unit volume. When it cools down it comes out of solution and forms crystals
You are doing good to get the sugar to dissolve in a 2:1 ratio.
Candy manufacturers know the solubility of sugar very well.
Ernie
 
#3 ·
could you not make up some syrup that when cooled would be just about solid, well lets say just soft, pour it into one side of drawn comb and let it cool to a solid state and then put them into the hive?

Just thinking out loud.

G3
 
#4 ·
Get the recipe for making candy for the bees. You can make candy and feed it in cold weather as well as warm weather. I saw the recipe on the net somewhere. You could pour the candy in your inner cover if you put some kind of wraping on the cover first. Wax paper should do it if you let you candy cool down before you pour it.
 
#8 ·
I think there still are two camps on that topic. Personally, last winter was the first time I ever fed my bees during the winter, and I just used dry sugar. You will see lots of posts here about the 'Mountaincamp Method' named for the poster. Basically, add regular sugar on newspaper over the topbars.

Bill
 
#9 ·
... last winter was the first time I ever fed my bees during the winter, and I just used dry sugar.... Basically, add regular sugar on newspaper over the topbars.

Bill
Hi Bill,

I`ve heard about this type of feeding before, but if it`s the winter where do the bees get the water to liquify the dry sugar?

Luc
 
#11 ·
Amazing. I would never have thought that respiration and condensation would provide enough liquid. Isn`t condensation a bad thing? If the hive is properly ventilated there shouldn`t be much condensation. On the other hand, maybe having dry sugar up there would help in preventing excess condensation by providing a use for the moisture. Interesting.
 
#12 ·
IMO syrup is more enthusiastically taken by the bees. As an experiment, try giving colonies both and see which they prefer. The dry feed makes sense when the weather turns cold and bees have a hard time getting to and feeding from cold syrup. I would be interested to know if there is general agreement on this?
 
#13 ·
I feel feeding syrup too late in the year is not good for the bees. I've read it causes Nosema, a fungal infection in the bees mid-gut. I think it increases the moisture in the hive at the time of year when nature is doing that already.

When you feed syrup, the bees need time to convert it and cure it for storage. They are trying to dry it out and the time of year when there is already too much moisture in the air over night. I myself won't feed past the end of October here in my location, and I prefer to be all done with any needed feeding by mid-October if I can.

Using dry sugar over top bars on newspaper, the sugar absorbs extra moisture in the air in the hive, just at the time of year when that is needed. Moisture is created by the bees eating honey and converting it to heat inside a cooler box. The sugar absorbs moisture and helps prevent condensation on the top board. It also provides a winter/early spring emergency energy source, which is what the honey stored is for them as well.

I have never used the Mountain Camp method myself but think it sounds like a good idea, if feeding is needed in late fall thru early spring.
 
#14 ·
I pretty much follow Ray's feeding strategy up here in northern New England, in that I don't want to feed syrup after October.

You would be amazed how much moisture a hive produces. As has been posted on this forum many times, excess moisture in a hive is a major killer. If not properly ventilated, the moisture will condense on the inner cover and drips down onto the cluster. Dry sugar helps absorb some of the excess moisture. I use top entrances and vent boxes, and the sugar still hardens on the newspaper.

I used it for the first time last winter and it helped me save a couple of nucs and probably a couple of hives. I think it is a good insurance policy, because, even if the bees have a lot of winter stores, sometimes, for reasons of weather or just bad luck, they don't expand sideways to eat all the honey stored in the outer frames (called 'chimneying' or 'smokestacking'). Then, they end up on the top frames of the top box and starve. So, this fall, the last thing I am going to do to my hives (12) is add dry sugar and see what happens. Will also be adding it to the 10 nucs.

Bill
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top