[timgoodin]

I'm curious if anyone has ever tried this? I was thinking about taking some empty drawn honeycomb, sprinkle dry granulated white sugar over it and filling up the cells. Then spraying a mist of warm/hot sugar water onto the comb to partially or mostly dissolve the sugar then placing this into a nuc. I'm curious if the bees would haul it out, if it would just be a sticky mess or if they would clean it up in mass and thus store it away in the process. I've started some nucs and am getting tired filling quart jars.


Tim

 

[Rick 1456]

Interesting idea. Wonder how much / if the frame holds more than the quart jar. You might get tired of going in and out of the hive.
If you have some extra bodies for your nucs,,,why don't you use 1 gal. paint cans. I getem at lowes. Put the can on top of the inner cover,,hive body on top, should last 4 times longer
I like your idea though.

rick soMd

 

[indypartridge]

I've seen demonstrations of filling frames of drawn comb with syrup. Use a nail to punch some holes in the bottom of a can, then fill the comb by pouring the syrup thru the can. The holes need to be small enough so the syrup goes into the cells.

 

[StikyBoots]

I have heard of people using a lawn sprayer, that has had no chemicals in it, to spray the cells full of syrup.

 

[casper_zip]

This is very interesting. So, now, how come you can't take a couple of full frames of honey and put into your hive, would this take the place of feeding syrup via a quart jar ?

I would like info/opinions on this, too. I like Tim's idea. This is a great learning place, and it's good to think "outside" the box on idea's that look good.

Thanks and I certainly did not intend to "hijack" this thread.

Best,

casper_zip

 

[rweakley]

The reason someone might not use a frame or 2 of honey is that maybe they don't have any extra to give, or many a commercial guy will tell you that HFCS or sugar is cheaper than honey. They can sell the honey for more than it cost them to replace in sugar or suryup.

I give frames of honey if I have it, if not I feed sugar water. On the exact suggestion above of sprinkling sugar in frames and misting with water. Some hives used it, some of it was left over in the spring.

 

[hilreal]

Sugar $0.50 per pound.

Honey $4.00 per pound.

Unless you are sure it came from the same hive chance of spreading disease.

 

[Rick 1456]

How bout an empty super box on a cookie sheet,,,,,then dip\submerse the comb. Comb is on a tilt, do it slow and the air should run out. I would think you would want to use as heavy a syrup as possible?
Just throwin out ideas. Seems like alot of effort vs 1 gal. can. Cold weather feeding might be a different story.

Rick SoMd

 

[NasalSponge]

Consider the difference between a division feeder and a drawn frame of comb in terms of how much each holds and time taken to fill.......just think about it for a few seconds.......

Filling comb with syrup in not an efficient way to feed bees. I believe if it had been it would have been the practice for the last 100 years.

 

[twd8711]

my guess would be you would end up with a mess,and a whole bunch of robbing problems, and if it starts dripping thru the bottom it would probably be an invitation to a host of other insects. im still partial to the open feeder a good distance from the hives, doesnt work in the cold but for spring and fall feeding ive had good luck with it.

 

[Countryboy]

I have tried filling frames with granulated sugar, and then misting the frames with sugar syrup. The sugar in the cells gets rock hard, and the bees ended up tearing down the cells to remove the sugar.

Spraying frames full of syrup is an efficient way to feed bees. In the commercial forum, The Honey Householder has talked about his methods of feeding package bees with combs of syrup.

 

[challenger]

I had a personal nightmare with this type of feeding. I was using 2:1 sugar syrup and maybe this is why I had so much trouble but the cells were very hard to get filled. Forcing the air out of the cells was so time consuming and I was using a high pressure honey pump I made from a gear pump and 1/2 hp motor shooting out of a 3/8" tube. It was a major mess and the syrup ended up as crystalized sugar at the end of winter.

 

[waynesgarden]

....dip\submerse the comb. Comb is on a tilt, do it slow and the air should run out.

If that were the case, you would have all the nectar the bees bring in running out of the cells. Surface tension keeps it in. You can't do it slow, you need to do it with some velocity if you want to get syrup deep into the comb

There are a number of commercial beekeepers that use methods of spraying under some pressure to fill the cells with honey. Here's a link to a thread about spraying.

Here's another low-tech way.


Wayne

 

[Rick 1456]

Waynesgarden;
My "understanding" (notice the quotes) is that the comb cells tilt upward if only slightly. I also "believe" the ripening process is just that,,a process. Fluidity (water content)is on a continuum. I understand surface tension, but I also understand gravity. This is not meant to be a challenge, but I don't understand how a viscous fluid, ie honey,,will stay vertical(not fall out) of a horizontal tube.(which s what you are saying if I understand correctly)

rick SoMd

 

[John V]

Has anyone tried using a 6" cotton roller to fill the cells? Seems as though the nap would dip into the cells to help displace the air and leave the syrup behind. I thought about trying that when I was coating some foundation but I was almost finished. Next time I think I'll try it. But not a dinky foam one...unless it works...

Later, John

 

[Countryboy]

and I was using a high pressure honey pump I made from a gear pump and 1/2 hp motor shooting out of a 3/8" tube.

There's your problem. A 3/8 tube is larger than a cell. You want a mist or fine spray to fill cells.

My "understanding" (notice the quotes) is that the comb cells tilt upward if only slightly. I also "believe" the ripening process is just that,,a process. Fluidity (water content)is on a continuum. I understand surface tension, but I also understand gravity.

Yes, cells normally tilt upwards at about a 15 degree angle.

I recently tried raising some queens with the Hopkins method, which involves placing a frame horizontal over the frames. The bees packed every open cell, top and bottom of the frame, with nectar. The nectar wasn't running out of the cells on the bottom side of the frame, and they point straight down.

 

[valleyman]

Wow! Some of the things some people will try to keep from unscrewing a jar lid and pouring some syrup. Or refilling a paint bucket. I never cease to be amazed at the effort some people will put forth to keep from doing a simple task. Some things are just better accepted as they have been done.
What do you think that the bees think with all that mess in their hive?:ws

 

[waynesgarden]

Some things are just better accepted as they have been done.
What do you think that the bees think with all that mess in their hive?

I haven't tried this technique myself yet, though I'll hazard a guess that it has some merits that you are not seeing and results in less mess in the hives than you are quessing it does. I base this on the fact there are commercial operators like The Honey Householder that will infuse syrup into thousands of frames for his operation. I'm sure he knows how to unscrew the top of a jar.

Wayne

 

[valleyman]

I can see the merits for the commercial beek who will perfect the procedure with the proper equipment. Having said this I still think that there are less labor intensive methods for them. Remember you are still taking up a frame space that they could be using for other purposes. Are they going to cap this over or eat it' I just don't think the average beek has the expertise or the equipment to succesfully use this method. I rest my case!!

 

[waynesgarden]

Even with only a few hives, I suspect one could feed further into our northern fall/early winter by having the syrup closer to the broodnest than sitting on top of the hive where it could freeze. Certainly would be less labor intensive for the bees that would be moving it to cells anyway?

Wayne