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Extending Shelf Life of 2:1 Sugar Syrup

6K views 33 replies 12 participants last post by  little_john 
#1 ·
I hate mixing sugar syrup every time I need a few gallons. I like to mix about 30 gallons at a time and I use an old heated bottling tank.
I draw it off in 5 gallon plastic jugs and pour from that into feeders in the bee yard.
How long will 2:1 syrup keep if treated with bleach? How is it affected by temperature? Will it keep longer if kept warm in the tank until needed?

Please share you experience...thanks.
 
#2 ·
Unlike 1:1, 2:1 syrup keeps quite well without bleach. I have had it stored in gallon jugs for more than a month with no issues. If you wish, add 1 to 2 tsp. bleach per gallon, but wait for the syrup to cool before you do.
 
#3 ·
I make up several dozen 4-pint milk jugs with 2:1 (or maybe a tad stronger) at a time. Those which will end up 'on the shelf' I add bleach to as already mentioned. I currently have about twenty of these jugs left over from Autumn feeding, so I'll just keep 'em full, as cool as possible and away from direct sunlight - that way they'll still be good to use come next Spring. :)
LJ
 
#4 ·
I fill a truckload of five gallon buckets of Prosweet at Mann Lake when I run out. No spoilage, no fuss, no muss. No work other than the drive.
 
#5 ·
No spoilage certainly sounds attractive Frank, but I'm not within driving distance of Mann Lake. What price are you getting per gallon. Catalog price is $14.00 a gallon in 5 gallon pails.
Even with free shipping, that's outrageous.
 
#8 ·
I’ve had it last a year. I draw it from a friend’s tote in which he added some bleach. I store it in 2.5 gallon kitty litter jugs that I get from the recycling center. I just keep them in my garage.
I use those same containers to fill the in hive ML cap and ladder feeders.
 
#11 ·
Okay, thanks for the feedback. For longevity mix 2:1 and keep it cold...got it.

Now I'm going to hijack my own thread and ask a second question. Let's say I have 2:1 left from fall feeding
and it's still good in the spring. If I want to stretch the syrup, how much water do I add to each gallon of 2:1 to make it 1:1.
Maybe I'm just being lazy by asking, but my math skills aren't working too well this morning:)
 
#13 ·
If I want to stretch the syrup, how much water do I add to each gallon of 2:1 to make it 1:1.
No need to get your calculator out - just eyeball the volume of the 2:1 and add the same volume of water to it. :)

And there's no need - ever - to be accurate when mixing syrup, the bees will accept whatever they're given ... if they need it.
LJ
 
#14 ·
LJ, you may want to rethink that first part. You would want to add roughly half the volume as water. 1-1/3 gallons of 2:1 will yield 2 gallons of 1:1. But you are right about not needing to be accurate. The bees will take whatever you give them, including the leftover 2:1 just as is.
 
#15 ·
Not at all - forget how the syrup was made up, because now it's a solution: of X number of grams per litre. By adding an equal volume of water you create X number of grams per 2 litres - i.e. half the strength of what you had previously.
LJ
 
#16 ·
half the strength of what you had previously
Indeed you would, and 1/2 of a 66.6% solution (2:1), would be 33.3% (.5:1), not the 50% (1:1) that was being sought.

Took me awhile to figure out why your math looked good but did not correlate to my experience.:scratch:
 
#17 ·
FWIW - in the chemmy lab we usually talk in terms of 'molar' solutions - a 'mole' being the mass (or weight) of a chemical equal in grams to it's molecular weight. So - if we take a chemical with a molecular weight of (say) 100, then 200 grams of that chemical in 1 litre of water would then produce a 2.0 molar solution.
But - you don't just add 200 grams of it to 1 litre of water because chemicals continue to occupy volume even when dissolved in water, and so more than 1 litre would be produced as a result (at a slightly lower concentration than that desired).
So - the drill is to add 200 grams of the chemical to (say) 750 mls or thereabouts of water, then - when fully dissolved - top up the volume to exactly 1 litre, which then produces the desired 2.0 molar solution.

There are some examples of how to achieve fairly complex dilutions from 'stock' molar solutions at: http://dilutions.quansysbio.com/dilutions-explanations-and-examples/ from where I've pinched the following:

Using C1V1 = C2V2

To make a fixed amount of a dilute solution from a stock solution, you can use the formula: C1V1 = C2V2 where:
V1 = Volume of stock solution needed to make the new solution
C1 = Concentration of stock solution
V2 = Final volume of new solution
C2 = Final concentration of new solution
So - to turn our strength_2 solution into a strength_1 solution, we simply double the amount of solvent (water), thus:

2M x 1 litre = 1M x 2 litres, i.e. to give double the volume at half the concentration (strength)

Hope this helps (sorry about the chemmy lecture - chemistry has kinda conditioned how I think about things ...) :)
'best,
LJ
 
#18 ·
Gawd, it must be getting to be winter, that we are discussing with gusto things of such a trival nature! :)

I was using C1V1=C2V2 also. The breakthough moment was considering that 2:1 is not twice as strong as 1:1, however pure granular sugar would be. We are not talking about molarity but rather percent concentration by weight of the finished solution. About a gazillion years ago, inorganic chemistry was my favorite subject in college so don't worry about going all chemmy on me, I love it.
 
#24 ·
MB's method is good but sometimes we dont know how many pints volume our containers are. If I am guessing at that figure I will use two containers of sugar to each container of water. That way I dont need a lot of the hooplah you hover heducated fellows are quibbling over.:rolleyes: As mentioned, a given volume of granulated sugar weighs close enough to the same as that volume of water would.

We are feeding bugs, not a nuclear reactor.:p
 
#26 ·
That way I dont need a lot of the hooplah you hover heducated fellows are quibbling over.
Oooh, hoverly heducated, I like that. I knew my tuition dollars were wasted when the they tried to teach me pie r square. Everyone knows pie r round! To make matters worse, they then taught me that 1 pie is only half of a circle. 'Scuse me, but 1 pie is a whole circle. I tell ya, the things they teach in screwls nowadays.:scratch:
 
#25 ·
Oh my, what have I done. MB, I believe more sugar is sold by kg, ton or any other metric weigh one uses then lbs. Lbs is only for a few enlighten nations. Even the good Brit's measure now in metric.

If you take 20 liter of sugar and 10 liter of water, you end up with 16.9 kg of sugar and 10 kg of water in your syrup, that is a good number away from 2:1.

If it does not matter, then why do any measuring?
 
#27 ·
https://scienceprojectideasforkids.com/solubility-graph/

This is a solubility graph of sugar in water relative to temperature. 200 grams sugar in 100 grams water is a saturated solution at approximately normal room temperature. Any drop in temperature will result in crystallization. Any amount of mineralization of the water will decrease the solubility.

Biermann quotes the two to one ratio by volume will actually result in a 1.69 : 1 solution by weight. This figure could be quite accurate, depending somewhat on how coarse or fine it is. Anyways, in my opinion that ratio is more practical for usual fall feeding than one that is truly 2 : 1

I have seen M Bush write that a 5 : 3 solution is what he commonly shoots for. When I was fussy about actually getting a true 2 : 1 ratio by weight I have experienced crystallization. Not worth the possibly slight gain in conversion efficiency for the bees.

Two to one by volume is as good as it gets for the girls I hang out with!;)
 
#34 ·
There's really no practical upper limit if you fully invert - here's an example of the gel which is eventually formed with a very high concentration of sugars:





And if you keep removing even more water, then you end up with toffee !
LJ
 
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