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Question on Candy Boards

8K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  PAHunter62 
#1 ·
Winter is upon us...got down to 21 last nite. One of my hives has a very light hive weight, so I'm going to make a candy board to help them out. I saw one at Brushy Mtn and they gave out a recipe for the candy. They mention a pollen substitute. I have pollen patties in the freezer. Could they be put into the mixture? Does anyone have a good recipe they might share? This is my first winter so I'm pretty nervous as to the outcome. Thanx
 
#2 ·
Here is my recipe:

15lb sugar
3 bottles corn syrup
4 cups water
Heat to 240 degrees and hold for a few minutes
Cool to 180 degrees
Stir vigorously
QUICKLY pour into board
Hard in 2-3 hours

Some will beat me over the head with the corn syrup but I never seen anything negative.

This time of year I would skip the pollen patty. If you were adding the board in late winter then I might. When I do add patties I lay them flat and pour over them.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Thanx all. I noticed the recipe I saw also had vinegar. Does it not help to add HBH or amino acids, or does the high temp of the mixture ruin them? I noticed the Youtube video they just used sugar, vinegar and made provisions for pollen (looked like real, loose pollen) but nothing else. Looks like this would be the perfect time for healthy additives. Thanx all.
 
#5 ·
The Vinegar lowers the pH to be more like honey. I have used cream of tartar. I have added pro health tot he mixture at the very end right before pouring. Pro health in just like HBH. I think it could be helpful with bees consuming the sugar and studies have shown in can increase nosema in winter. The pro health is a helping hand to keep that in check.
 
#7 ·
#11 ·
I have used the BM winter covers and their receipe fir two years. You can get the polen sub from them. It is easy and the bees love it. They give you a lid for a feeding jar that you can put in the hole to plug it until the cany hardens.
 
#12 ·
Sorry to hear about your bees, neighbor (ashb82). That was a really cold nite. I was at a Wake Forest game and liked to froze. I won't even call myself a Beekeeper until my girls survive their first winter. Even though I weigh my hives, I still don't know how much stores is enough and I have this one hive that I let get a little too lite. The Wolley Worm says this is going to be a cold winter, so I'm a little nervous.
MeriB...I have pollen patties from BM. Is that what you used? How did you mix it with your candy?
Thanx all.
 
#13 ·
I bought the dry pollen substitute. I don't know how the pollen patties would do in the candy. Maybe you could do a combonation of pollen patties and mountain camp method of feeding. Put the newspaper down with the patty on it and dry sugar on that, if you don't want to buy the substitute.
 
#14 ·
My new BM winter cover / candy boards came in yesterday. Having never used one before a question comes to mind...if I make a pot of candy, pour it into the candy board and let it harden, it seems to me when I place the board on top of my brood box the whole candy slab will fall out. There is nothing there to retain it. How do you manage or am I over-thinking this?
 
#18 ·
An old recipe I used years ago, and made today (14 pie pans full, lined with aluminum foil) is:
1 quart water
1 quart honey
20 pounds granulated sugar.
Bring water and honey to boil, add sugar, bring to boil, pour or ladle into molds. When hard, remove foil candy boards, put on hives.
Regards,
STeven
 
#19 ·
It won't fall out, but if you are worried, put some 1/2" hardware cloth between the candy and the top box. That will keep large chunks from falling between the frames if any do come loose.

The candy melts from condensation and the bees consume the syrup that forms, so they eat from outside in as a rule.

And bees can consume and metabolize sucrose just fine -- they invert it to make honey so it won't crystalize. Candy board work very well to keep bees from starving -- saved my hive last winter, although I lost it to wax moths and EFB in the spring. Should have fed it like crazy last fall, but it was my first hive and I didn't know better yet.

Peter
 
#20 ·
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