Making Sugar Syrup for Package Bees | Dadant & Sons 1863 (2024)

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Making Sugar Syrup for Package Bees | Dadant & Sons 1863? ›

How to Make Sugar Syrup for Package Bees. A one-to-one mixture of sugar and water — measured either by weight or by volume — provides the energy your bees need to stimulate brood rearing and start drawing out foundation. For each gallon of sugar syrup, measure out 10 2/3 cups sugar and 10 2/3 cups of water.

Some beekeepers prefer a ratio of 1 part of sugar to 1 part of water — measured by weight (known as 1:1). The 1:1 syrup is generally used to: supplement honey stores. stimulate colonies to rear brood.

Granulated sugar or white sugar

White sugar, also called granulated sugar or table sugar, is the most similar to nectar that we have available. Therefore, white sugar should be your choice in feeding bees.

You add one pint of water for each pound of sugar. One gallon of water weighs about 8 lbs. So to make one to one by weight, you mix one gallon of water to 8 lbs of sugar. I like to mix one gallon of water to 10 lbs of sugar.

After the sugar has dissolved (by mixing mixing mixing!), you can add 2.5 tsp of apple cider vinegar, a half teaspoon of salt and . 5 ml of lemongrass essential oil. looks yummy, doesn't it? well, it smells HEAVENLY!!!!!

Feeding larger quantities of sugar syrup does pose a risk of the sugar syrup being stored by the bees and at some future date being extracted by the beekeeper. Feeding large quantities of sugar syrup may occur in autumn in preparation for winter or during periods of severe drought.

A: In the fall, the bees need thicker sugar syrup that contains less moisture. Bees should be fed sugar syrup with 70% sugar (sucrose) content. This means a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water.

Homemade 2:1 bee syrup recipe

While generally, you'd make a 2:1 bee syrup by mixing two parts sugar to one part water — for instance, two pounds of sugar to one pound of water — this method takes away the need to weigh and measure.

If you feed your bees a lot of sugar syrup in the fall, that will lead to excess capped sugar syrup in the spring. That capped sugar syrup can get lost in the shuffle and end up getting uncapped and extracted in the spring.

Rob Raguso has published on the ability of insects to sense water vapour gradients, and honeybees are sensitive to water saturation deficits (a.k.a. humidity). So honeybees may be able to distinguish sugar syrups from water alone because the former would have lesser (not greater, I think) humidity at the surface.

When should I feed my bees sugar syrup in spring? ›

It sometimes becomes necessary to support your bees with sugar syrup, especially early in the season when new colonies are being established or weather patterns are preventing colonies from foraging.

Bees won't readily take syrup that is below 50 degrees F, and if it cools off at night, it may not warm up enough again during the next day to make it palatable.

Once daytime temperatures drop below 57° F, stop feeding liquid syrup and switch to a solid sugar board. Liquid syrup puts too much moisture in the colony, and the bees are unable to evaporate the excess moisture to ensure long-term storage of the syrup.

Traditional simple syrup is made from one part water to one part sugar (1:1).

Two parts sugar to one part water (2:1)

When measured by volume rather than mass [see below], 2:1 sugar syrup is also around the same degree of sweetness found in most commercially produced bottled sugar syrups.