autumn feed sugar ratio

[bbadger07]

Can any forum member please confirm ive got this right, is the autumn feed ratio 1 (1kg) bag of sugar to 1 pint of tap warm water and mix it up. Sorry to sound like its a daft question to you experienced members but this is the first time im making this solution up for me bees.

Again thanks out there for your replys youve all been a great help so far....

 

[Black Comb]

Well I use 2 kgs to one litre but yours is pretty similar.
Yes it's OK.

The sugar never seems to go very far.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Can any forum member please confirm ive got this right, is the autumn feed ratio 1 (1kg) bag of sugar to 1 pint of tap warm water and mix it up. Sorry to sound like its a daft question to you experienced members but this is the first time im making this solution up for me bees.

Again thanks out there for your replys youve all been a great help so far....

thats 1.76 to one mid way bwteen 2kg in 1ltrs (2:1) or 2lb in 1 pint 1.6 to one so would do

may be a bit difficult to disovle it if you have not done it before so try 500ml of water in a large saucepan heat till boiling, turn it off wait for one minute and add 1kg of sugar and stir

 

[melon]

Do you ever find the sugar crystalises with this method using a contact feeder?I really struggle with my contact feeders, where the sugar syrup seems to set hard, so the bees cannot get at it. I was wondering if I should put something around the bucket to insulate it and perhaps stop it granulating.Any suggestions for insulation, or how to stop problems of crystalisation. Thankyou.

 

[Rosti]

Melon, I have heard the same, the sugar solution at 2:1 is sufficiently strong that (if they dont feed constantly) the lower surface can crystalise because of surface evaporation on/at the gauze/mesh. No personal experience, it was in an association news letter I think. I got fed up of them leaking when inverting (too ham fisted to get a vacuum to hold I suspect). I now stick to 2 ltr rapids for treatments and millers for bulk

 

[melon]

I suppose I shall have to get some new feeders! Does anyone have success with contact feeders? I do have one of the big Miller feeders, which I could rotate. I had a problem when I first used it as there were bees in it, so I left it out for a bit to clear and ended up with hundreds of bees and wasps in it. Thankyou for your help.

 

[Rosti]

Check that the slushes on it only have a couple of mm clearance at the bottom and are flush with the central cover at the top. Some are designed with a cut away in the slush that can allow the bees out to clear the miller of the last drops, some have removeable slushes (thats what I use). Make sure that the 'cleaning' gap is covered if that's your design and you dont want them out in to the reservoirs..

 

[MuswellMetro]

I suppose I shall have to get some new feeders! Does anyone have success with contact feeders? I do have one of the big Miller feeders, which I could rotate. I had a problem when I first used it as there were bees in it, so I left it out for a bit to clear and ended up with hundreds of bees and wasps in it. Thankyou for your help.

try 2lbs to 1 pint the old imperial method that about 1.7kg to 1ltre less lilkey to crystallize but suspect its is undissolved sugar that causes your blockage not re crystallizing so the slightly diluted mix is more likley to disolve all the sugar

 

[melon]

Thanks, I will try to make the syrup like that. Do you not think it would help to wrap anything around the bucket to keep it cosy as well?
I'll have a look at the other feeder today and see how we get on with it. Would like to have a little look at the bees before removing apiguard and starting feeding, to make another assessment of stores and check all is well, but it looks like it is going to be a wet day today. OH thinks I am mad taking honey away,and then having to buy sugar to feed them!

 

[Black Comb]

I've started using contact feeders recently on a couple of small colonies / large nucs. when I wanted to encourage brood rearing. The queens have both gone back onto lay during 2nd Apiguard.

Of course they may have done this anyway.

theory is that contact feeding mimics a nectar flow whereas Millier / Rapid upsets the colony.

I read this in Beecraft.

 

[Arfermo]

I suppose I shall have to get some new feeders! Does anyone have success with contact feeders? I do have one of the big Miller feeders, which I could rotate. I had a problem when I first used it as there were bees in it, so I left it out for a bit to clear and ended up with hundreds of bees and wasps in it. Thankyou for your help.

Melon, Miller/Ashforth feeders are far superior to contact feeders or rapid feeders. My Miller feeders all have a space under the central channel enough for the bees to squeeze under when the tray is virtually empty which I find very useful as the bees can then clean up ALL the residue of syrup, and yours seems to be very similiar. However, it seems to me that you probably didn't top it up as often as necessary. If they take it all, it means they need more. As the take-down slows, I top up with less until it reaches the stage where the bees mop all the residue and clean the tray up completely and I then tempt them with fondant (Apifonda or bakers fondant)during the rest of the winter. Incidentally, it pays to not have the Miller feeder dead level front to back for this reason.

 

[bbadger07]

right ive made me syrup up at 2:1 ratio thereabouts, its very gloopy anyroad. Ive got about 10 litres of liquid and ive got a maisemore jumbo rapid feeders on top of my two commercial brood boxes at the ready. Though my mentor wants to heft the brood boxes to guess how much feed they will take but before he does and i place my syrup in them. My thoughts are thus:

Why dont i just feed em until they stop taking the syrup.

Is it still right they may take up to about 20 litres or more of syrup over tthe next few days and store..

Again thanks for your replys, its such a good help and is much appreciated, Im really enjoying this forum, i must make a donation

 

[oliver90owner]

Why dont i just feed em until they stop taking the syrup.

You will, but it does help if you have an idea of how much the will likely need. Otherwise you may find a near-full feeder of unwanted syrup, or you will have to pop off to Tescos for some more. Not too much bother if you only have one hive and a small feeder, but a pain if you have fifty or a hundred colonies to feed.....

'Up to' means from zero to that value, but no more! So the answer is 'yes'. Just depends on the size of box and how much is in it already. That is why he is hefting it. It may not need any!

Regards, RAB

 

[bbadger07]

oh thanks for that i will wait for the heft then, again thanks for ur time

 

[Finman]

.
When you make syrup with hot water, suggar will disolve too much. When syrup coos, it becomes stiffy and it get "an ice cover". Then add water.

When the syrup is like an oil it is strong enough.

I put couple newspaper sheets over the feeder it keeps the food warm over night.

 

[MJBee]

With regard to "hefting". I have found over the last 4 or 5 winters that my bees will get through the winter if the weight of the Floor, Commercial brood, crown board and roof plus bees and stores exceeds 40kgs.

I therefore feed until 45 - 50 kg then monitor the weight during the winter and particularly the early spring when the queen starts laying again and the weather can be iffy.

Obviously these figures are for my location/weather/bees and will vary for other people and locations but a useful yardstick for newbies to hoist aboard.