make fall syrup with honey

4645 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Curry, Nov 24, 2005

Rod350

Discussion Starter · Nov 14, 2005

I have some honey that I extracted from hive body frames and I want to know how much water I have to add to make 2:1 syrup to feed back to my bees with Fumagillian. Should be much cheaper than sugar and I am sure the bees will like it better.
Thanks,
Rod

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Michael Bush

· #2 · Nov 14, 2005

>Should be much cheaper than sugar and I am sure the bees will like it better.

What a strange combination. You want to feed honey but you want to feed fumigillan? Most of us who feed honey wouldn't use the medicine and most of those who use the medicine wouldn't feed honey.

It seems very wrong to add fumigillan to honey, even if you intend to feed it to the bees. It seems wrong to water the honey down.

Honey is NOT cheaper than sugar. You can sell the honey retail for about $3 a pound and wholesale I bet you'll get well over $1 a pound. I can buy sugar for about $0.40 a pound or thereabouts.

If you want to leave them stores. I would have left the honey on. If you want to feed medicine, which I would not (I've never used fumigillan in 31 years), I'd use syrup. If you want to feed honey, I'd feed it straight with no dilution because it will keep longer and the bees will have to work less.

You propose a very strange combiniation of philosphophies.

IF (and that's a big if) I wanted to feed fumigillan I'd do it in syrup. IF (and this is also a big if) I wanted to do it in honey, personally, I would not dilute the honey at all.

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Rod350

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 15, 2005

This particular honey is worthless for human consumption because it is from a hive body which was treated last year. I extracted it only because the frames came apart when I pulled them out. The plastic frames I bought are causing me a lot of trouble with some of the older frames. At this point I can not afford to lose a hive over the winter, this is why I treat and so far it has worked for me. So I take it I should disolve the Fumagillan in a cup of water and try to mix this cup in a gallon of honey?
Thanks for the reply,

Robert Hawkins

· #4 · Nov 15, 2005

MB says <[and this is also a big if] I wanted to do it in honey, personally, I would not dilute the honey at all.>

He's right but just so you'll know the answer to the original qhestion; Honey is about 18 percent water. To make it two to one you'd want to [approx] double that to 33.33%. Add 1 1/2 pints of water to every Gallon of honey.

Who's gonna check my math?

Hawk

Michael Bush

· #5 · Nov 15, 2005

>So I take it I should disolve the Fumagillan in a cup of water and try to mix this cup in a gallon of honey?

IF I were trying to feed the Fumagillan in honey that's what I would do, yes.

carbide

· #6 · Nov 15, 2005

To make it two to one you'd want to [approx] double that to 33.33%. Add 1 1/2 pints of water to every Gallon of honey.

Close, but no cigar.

If the honey is 18% water, then there are 23 fluid ounces of water in each gallon of honey. This leaves 105 fluid ounces of 'honey' in each gallon. To create a 2:1 syrup you need to add 29.5 ounces of water.

105/2=52.5 ounces of water req'd for 2:1 mix
52.5-23=29.5 ounces to be added (=1.84 pints)

[ November 15, 2005, 12:31 PM: Message edited by: carbide ]

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Robert Hawkins

· #7 · Nov 16, 2005

Thanks Data,

Hawk

Rod350

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 16, 2005

Thank you very much for your information.

Curry

· #9 · Nov 16, 2005

Rod,

I prefer mixing honey with sugar to feed at this time of year. It won't go ransid (sp?), and works real well in a hive top feeder. The bees can't resist the honey, and will also devour the sugar since it's mixed with the honey. Only way to go after it gets cool. I've wasted countless gallons of sugarwater this time of year... it goes bad so fast. But this honey/sugar mix won't go bad and draws the bees to the feed much better.

Jackbee

· #10 · Nov 17, 2005

" ransid " = rancid

Good tip Curry. What are your mixture proportions?

Would extracting some uncapped honey be useful for mixing.

I really like the idea of the sugarwater/honey feed not going bad, which is a real PITA problem.

Thanks

Michael Bush

· #11 · Nov 17, 2005

You can also buy citric acid or vitiman C (ascorbic acid) and add enough to keep it from molding. I've been adding 7 - 1000 mg tablets of vitiman C to the water before I boil the it to make five gallons of syrup.

Sourwood

· #12 · Nov 21, 2005

Mike,

You said you never have used F-B in 31 years of bee keeping experience. Have you ever had problems with nosema on your hives. Cause if not, I'm gonna save money and quite buying it. I already stopped using terramycin.

Thanks

Michael Bush

· #13 · Nov 21, 2005

>You said you never have used F-B in 31 years of bee keeping experience.

Correct.

>Have you ever had problems with nosema on your hives.

No.

Sourwood

· #14 · Nov 22, 2005

All I need to hear. Thanks.

Curry

· #15 · Nov 24, 2005

"What are your mixture proportions?"

Jackbee- um, well, the answer to this is as much sugar as you can, while it is still capable of rolling into a ball. I like for it to be like playdough... you'll see that a little bit of honey will go fairly far when mixed with sugar. Once the bees get working on the mixture, they'll keep working it until it's all gone, even sugar that didn't mix well. Give it a try, I think you'll like it.

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