Making your own sugar syrup

[Zonker]

Actually its unlikely you will see cane or beet sugar (sucrose C12H24O12) in your sugar bowl. In this country the "sugar" we use is corn based (furcose C6H12O6). I've read that bees prefer the sucrose but unless your willing to pay extra they're just going to have to make do.

I rushed over and removed the brown sugar and replaced it with sugar.

[cg3]

If you are buying your sugar in bags at the store, you are indeed buying sucrose.

[thenance007]

I have a 5.5 or 6 quart pan (usually the biggest one in a set of pots and pans). I dump 4-1/2 qts of hot tap water in, turn on the stove, add half a 10 lb. bag of sugar. Stir, add 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar, a couple small shakes of sea salt, and about 1/2 tsp. of Honey Bee Healthy. By the time I get everything in, I turn off the stove, stir for another minute or 2, and serve. By that time it is probably 100 degrees or so, and I can pour it straight into my 2 top feeders--perfect amount. And less than 5 minutes!

[wdcrkapry205]

After pricing a drum heater I will have to keep doing it like I have been.

I take 2 empty barrels, put my dry sugar in one; lay it on its side and pick it up with the forklift. Hold this barrel over the edge of the other. Like many have said, I turn my thermostat on my hot water heater all the way up (165 degrees) and with a hose and spray head wash the sugar down into the empty barrel. Works pretty well for 1/1, have to add more suger for 2/1. Continue mixing with boat paddle, going to try a trolling motor next time.

[Ross]

I take a simplistic approach. In whatever size container I want to feed, I fill it to within an inch or so of full with dry sugar. I have my hot water heater set at 140 degrees. I add hot water and stir until dissolved.

[mmiller]

I dump 25 lb sack of sugar in a 5 gallon bucket and fill to the 3rd ring down from the top with hot water. Mix and serve next day. Its a little over 4 gallons.

[curios1]

this is how i did it last year, and will this year. 1 to 1 1 part suger from local grocery 1 part hot water from tap put in 1/2 gallon container shake untill desolved. 2 to 1 same steps. each with a dash of lemon jucie. seems to work fine cause every time i put it in a canning jar sbove the hive in an empty deep box IT DISAPEARS . when i can manage to get past a couple hives, i will have to rethink that 1/2 gallon mixing TANK .

[Belewsboy]

One thing I would like to point out to all the first year beeks...something I was not fully aware of last year (my first year). My first 2 hives were packages which I received early April. The first thing the bees have to do is draw out the comb for brood...then more comb for honey storage. Comb building uses a lot of would-be honey. In my case, by the time enough comb was drawn for storing any decent amount of honey, the flow was winding down (Spring came early last year) and I constantly made syrup for building their winter stores and drawing more comb. The Fall flow doesn't amount to much here. So...I bought a propane turkey fryer and an 8 gallon SS pot. I boil 4 gallons of water and add 50 lbs of sugar (about 5:3). Makes about 7 gallons of syrup which I siphon into either gallon milk jugs for my top feeders or siphon into a 5 gallon pail for open feeding and the rest in jugs. The whole process takes exactly an hour and very little cleanup required. My next 2 hives were nucs which I bought in June. Much easier than packages. No more packages for me.