Are my supers full of syrup?

Yes. :lookout:

Very likely mostly capped sugar water with real some real honey mixed in. People usually stop feeding when they add the first super. Save it for winter. Do you have a late flow coming? Give them new frames, stop feeding, and see if you can get a late harvest. Add these sugar frames back for winter.

Edited to add...Yes, I am in Florida, so winter rules don't apply here, but my 76 year young Mom is a 2nd year beek in Mass, and I have been mentoring her, as well. SO though your rules don't apply to me, they do apply to her.

Sugar syrup. Whether it is honey or not is always being debated. Never tried it , but don't think it would have much flavor. Pretty much winter feed now, if you ask me.

There's been a decent flow on here... I would guess it's a mix of both then.

Most beekeepers do not feed with honey supers on for the reason you are now discovering. And yes sometimes it can take a very long time to get the honey supers drawn.

Worst case - extract the supers and feed the harvest back to the bees. Under no circumstances should it be sold or given away for human consumption.

And a hint - some beekeepers add food coloring to their syrup so they can tell at a glance where the syrup has been stored.

bjorn said:

I have been feeding my hive to assist in getting my new foundation drawn. They have now filler 2 supers and are starting to draw a third. Have they likely filled the supers with syrup. If i extract the 2 capped supers, will it be honey or syrup I'm extracting?

Click to expand...

Yes, but only a lab test for adulteration will tell for sure.

Yes, but junk. Winter feed at this point. Give fresh frames for your late flow. Harvest, and replace with this stuff for winter. JMO!

I may extract it to give them in the fall. That way they can refill the drawn comb during the remainder of the flow.

Andrew Dewey said:

Most beekeepers do not feed with honey supers on for the reason you are now discovering. And yes sometimes it can take a very long time to get the honey supers drawn.

Worst case - extract the supers and feed the harvest back to the bees. Under no circumstances should it be sold or given away for human consumption.

And a hint - some beekeepers add food coloring to their syrup so they can tell at a glance where the syrup has been stored.

Click to expand...

It is colored... the sugar came from a candy factory where the candy was rolled in this confectioners sugar. The sugar has a reddish tint to it and contains small fragments of hard candy.

Would it have been invested into the honey stomach and regurgitated like nectar would be? Is it stable for storage til fall or will it ferment?

Meant injested... crazy phone tried to correct my spelling.

bjorn said:

I may extract it to give them in the fall. That way they can refill the drawn comb during the remainder of the flow.

Click to expand...

thats alot of work for not much gain. Obviously I wouldn't have fed in the first place. How much of what concetration syrup did you feed. If its less than a few quarts of 1:1 I would extract it and eat it. I wouldn't sell it. If you fed more than that or higher concentration I would leave it on. Just add another super. You know the clean point, only harvest those frames, leave the rest for winter.

We pulled a drone frame today to make some drone-sicles. One side of it had crazy-comb with capped "honey," and no brood or pollen. We've been feeding the bees a lot this year since it is a new colony with a lot of foundation to draw out.

I sliced off the crazy comb for a crush and strain experiment. Long story short, I'm sure this honey is largely from sugar syrup, and it is not the most flavorful I've ever tried, but it is rather satisfying to lick from the fingers. We won't sell it but we're not harvesting honey this year and this is one of the few chances we'll get to sneak a taste.

We've been feeding 1:1, plain bagged white sugar and water. Some here prefer 5:3.

Add some Maple flavor.