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1:1 or 2:1 mix?

6K views 27 replies 16 participants last post by  Michael Bush 
#1 ·
I have been feeding the the nuc that I bought and moved into a 8 frame hive 2:1 sugar water to help build them up and get them producing wax.

When do you switch to 1:1? Will either work?
 
#3 ·
Michael Bush suggests using 5:3 all the time.

It is easier to make than 2:1 and he says that it doesn't ferment as quickly as 1:1

I have been mixing 5:3 lately.

But, I have also been known to use 8:5 ....:shhhh:


I keep the pot covered and heat more slowly to minimize evaporation.
 
#4 ·
I typically add five pounds of sugar to a one gallon jar and add water mixing until the sugar dissolves and the jar is full. The bees built out the brood nest with it and started storing it. When they had a couple of capped frames I pulled the feed. I do not know the ratio but it seems to be simple enough of a recipe.
 
#5 ·
Total newb here... trying to understand the ratios used. My assumption is that the ratios are by weight - let me know if that is wrong.

So, if the ratios are by weight and with water weighing approx 8 lbs / gal, a 5 lb bag of suger to one gallon of water is a 5:8 ratio. To get 1:1 would be 8 lbs of sugar to 1 gallon of water, and similarly a 2:1 ratio would be a little more than three 5 lb. bags of sugar (16 lbs) to 1 gallon of water.

Am I on the right track or out in left field? Put me in coach...
 
#12 ·
Total newb here... trying to understand the ratios used. My assumption is that the ratios are by weight - let me know if that is wrong...

...
Actually it doesn't matter. Water and sugar weigh the same. So you can either measure by weight or by volume... it's the same.

As far as short cuts to getting 2:1, I found that not much sugar will disolve beyond the ratio of 2:1. As a super saturated solution, that seems to be the limit.
 
#6 ·
My recipe for winter feeding:

5 Pints of H2O

10 # Sugar

I warm my water in a stock pot, don't boil it, and add half of sugar, 5 #, and stir till all dissolved, and then add the remaining 5#. This is an easy and very consistent recipe. I also add 2 tablespoons of B Healthy from Mann Lake to this mixture. My bees love it, and it really smells good, too.

casper_zip
 
#8 ·
If you're doing it in Mason Jars, fill the jar 100% with sugar. Pour a little hot water in there until the total volume is 3/4 full. Put it in the microwave for +/- 2 minutes. Pull it out and fill the remaining space with boiling hot water. Put the lid on and shake. The container will be so hot it will seal and sterilize itself and it will be 2:1.

It's a fast, clean and great way to make small batches (for nucs or emergency feed) that will store it indefinately. If you want to turn it into 1:1 bring along another Mason jar with nothing but water and mix it.
 
#10 ·
"So, if the ratios are by weight and with water weighing approx 8 lbs / gal, a 5 lb bag of suger to one gallon of water is a 5:8 ratio. To get 1:1 would be 8 lbs of sugar to 1 gallon of water, and similarly a 2:1 ratio would be a little more than three 5 lb. bags of sugar (16 lbs) to 1 gallon of water.

Am I on the right track or out in left field? Put me in coach..."



Left field.
 
#13 · (Edited)
ClarkP. What happens if you can get a good deal on a 25 pound, or 50 pound bag of sugar for the fall feeding and you don't quite use it all up? At Thanksgiving, you bake a cake, add some to the cranberry/orange sauce. How many pounds of sugar will be left?

In the spring 2011, you need to make a 1:1 syrup for some new packages. With the sugar you have left, how will you make that up, by weight,...or volume?

These sugar syrup,..1:2,..1:1,..2:1 recipe discussions for beekeeping are some of the most popular on Beesource and always "crack me up". :lpf:

It's a good thing,......"a pint's a pound the world round". :)

I'm not saying you're [or anybody is] wrong. When I first read about making syrup for feeding bees, all I read and understood was the 1:1 or 2:1 ratios that didn't differentiate between volume or weight in most books/cases. It was just this many parts sugar to this many parts water. In Wekipedia, I just read that, by weight is in perenthisis.

Some of this means you just need a scale to weigh the sugar that is left, rather than just adding a labeled, 4-5-10 pound bag that you buy at the store to whatever volume/weight of water, or concentration of syrup you want.

OK., maybe you don't actually need a scale because you only need some sort of measuring container because,. "a pint's a pound the world round".
 
#15 ·
With the sugar you have left, how will you make that up, by weight,...or volume?
Mine is always Weight:Volume

For me it is the easiest and accurate enough.



I accept the 4% rhyme error as a convenience. :)

It's a good thing,......"a pint's a pound the world round".
A little rhyme including Liters and Kilos you would be best. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Or if you could rhyme 1.043 lbs with pint... :D
 
#16 ·
Good grief Charlie Brown! Mix 8 lbs of sugar to 1 gal of water for 1:1. Mix a 25 lb bag with 3 gal water for 1:1. Double those sugar amounts for 2:1. If you have only a couple of hives mix a pint of water to a pint of sugar for 1:1; keep doing that until you get the amount you want. Why is this so difficult to understand? The bees don't care if you're off a little on the mix; they eat it anyway. Back to 3rd grade: 2 cups = 1 pint = 16 oz = 1 lb
2 pints = 1 quart =32 oz=2 lb
4 quarts=1 gallon=128 oz=8 lbs
 
#18 · (Edited)
"Mix 8 lbs of sugar to 1 gal of water for 1:1."
"Why is this so difficult to understand."

Maybe,...because not everybody would know, "right off the bat", that a gallon of water weighs 8.35 pounds! Therefore, three gallons, 3 times 8.35 pounds a gallon weighs 25.05 pounds. So, you add a 25 pound bag of sugar to three gallons of water,...voila,..you have 1:1 sugar syrup [or pretty close].

I guess a lot depends on how you were raised as a child, :no: and how one interprets/understands the world around them :scratch: :eek: :).
 
#20 ·
Fluid ounces are not net weight ounces.

'Parts' refers to volume, not weight. (You measure an amount, not weigh it.) Ratios can be either volume or weight.

But who cares? All you need to know is to stir sugar into hot water until you can't get any more sugar to dissolve - that is fine with the bees.
 
#23 ·
Okay,
Is now the time to ask if there is a difference between beet sugar and cane sugar? I was told to only feed cane because beet was GMO. Is this true?n Also, I have a few frames in the super that are not filled out, is it too late to start feeding them to get them to finish those?
Thanks, Kent
 
#25 ·
I was told to only feed cane because beet was GMO. Is this true?
Once it is refined sugar, sucrose, it really doesn't matter to the bees where is came from. Purity of sugar is a much bigger concern. That is why raw sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, etc. are not recommended for feeding. They are not fully refined/purified. Or, they have additives added.

If you are opposed to certain advances in technology it may matter to you what the source of the sugar is. Otherwise, can or beet sugar should work the same.

Tom
 
#26 ·
2:1 means 2 cups sugar to 1 cup water. If you want a thicker more concentrated solution get HFCS 55. You wont have to mix it. Someone in your area will have it and just buy a couple jugs from them when you need it. It costs 1/2 of mixing sugar water and it will be plenty thick for the fall feeding.
 
#27 ·
from Dadant:

"What do I feed the honey bees in the fall?
Use a two part sugar to one part water sugar syrup mixture if the bees do not have adequate winter stores. Fill your container to the half way mark with water. Pour the water into a pan to place on stove to warm up or boil. Completely fill your container with sugar. Add sugar to hot water and stir. Hot or boiling water will help to dissolve the sugar better. Allow mixture to cool before feeding your bees."

This would indicate a volume, not weight mixture.
 
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