Weight of 2:1 sugar syrup
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80 colonies +/- mostly Langstroth mediums, a few deeps for nuc production
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Not exactly but Mike Palmer feeds a gallon of syrup for each 10 pounds hive is light going into winter. Not a bad rule of thumb.
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The next time you make syrup you could measure out a gallon and weigh it.
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Will be close enough. I figured it out one time to be a tad over 14lbs when using our imperial gallon which is 10 lbs for water.
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When I mix 2:1, I use 9 gallons of water and 150 lbs of sugar. I know that’s a bit more concentrated than 2:1 but pretty close. It produces about 22 gallons. 72lbs of water plus 150lbs of sugar equals 222lbs. Divide that by 22 gallons….and voila around 10lbs/gallon.
This thread got me to thinking so I went out to the shop and weighed some 2:1 syrup I had mixed up yesterday. I weighed 2 different 1 gallon jugs and they weighed out at 11 pounds and 11 ounces each. That is both jug and syrup. I do not know what the jug weighed by itself but it should not weigh over 6 ounces.
GregH, that sounds right on the money. I mix 30# of sugar with 15# of water to yield 4 gallons of finished syrup. That would give you 11.25# per gallon. By comparison, the honey here weighs in at just a tad bit under 12# per gallon. My pint mason jars weigh 22oz. when full.
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The density of 2:1 is 1.36 kg/l. The density of 1:1 is 1.21 kg/l.
That converts to 11.3 lbs per US gallon and 10.1 lbs per US gallon respectively
Since I shoot for a target weight I feed by weight not by volume.
The keyword you are probably missing in your search is density. There are tons of culinary sites that list the density of sugar syrups.
That converts to 11.3 lbs per US gallon and 10.1 lbs per US gallon respectively
Since I shoot for a target weight I feed by weight not by volume.
The keyword you are probably missing in your search is density. There are tons of culinary sites that list the density of sugar syrups.
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I have gone from feeding and weighing to just feeding until they will take no more. This is usually 4 to 6 gallons of 5:3. Six gallons of 5:3 is 40 pounds of granulated sugar the colony receives. They may need more this year as the nectar flow was poor.
This resource has a bunch of calculators for different beekeeping recipes https://www.synthium.net/resources/convert.html#sugarmix2 - just plug in your numbers. According to this, a gallon of 2:1 is 13lbs. which makes sense since 2:1 is about equal to honey as opposed to 1:1 which is more like nectar.
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Why do you want to know the weight? I figure honey is about 1/5 water (easier math). So if a colony were 50# too light they would need 40# of sugar. Feed as thick as I can dissolve today.... And I find our carniolan bees in small colonies need much less honey than expected. I do check for honey stores starting in Feb but most colonies going in to winter in upstate NY with 5/8 honey come out with plenty left over (eg I overwinter many resource hives Palmer style (4 over 4 deep next to 4 over 4; each colony on 8 frames needs 5 If them capped honey by shutdown. Recently we have been getting by with less ....
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I'm please to see that somebody else is puzzled by this, as the weight of this syrup will change as the bees remove water from it, prior to capping the result. The only important factor (imo) is the weight of the sugar itself.
Or if you're into weighing beehives - then assume the weight as being similar to honey as in the previous post.
LJ
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Well, maple syrup is 66 or 67 brix. Weighs 11 pounds per gallon
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