Bee feeding

[Aggravated]

I am feeding one of my hives at the moment as it is small and struggling.

I am doing a mixture of 1:1 sugar and water, with just hot water and sugar and stirring and letting it dissolve.

The problem is the feeder is getting mould in it, is this bad for the bees, and is it because I am not boiling the solution?

Also I am going to do an Api guard treatment, is it OK to feed and do the treatment at the same time, or is it best do do separately

Regards

 

[enrico]

Feed twice as much sugar as liquid now, less water for them to remove. Don't boil it. Put 2 kg of sugar in a pan add one litre of boiling water, stir, add heat for a few minutes till the liquid goes clear. Store in plastic milk bottles filled as close to the top as possible.
E

 

[enrico]

Oh and yes... If they need treating then feed and treat

 

[Aggravated]

Good advise, many thanks

 

[itma]

"Small and struggling" - some detail might help. Is their box fully-drawn with comb?
Why are they "small and struggling"? Unless the answer to that is varroa, then varroa treatment is unlikely to be the highest priority.

Mould. Feed smaller quantities at a time (so it doesn't sit around so long). Scrupulously clean all old mould from the feeder before reusing it. Add Thymol to the syrup to prevent mould formation - see the sticky post about Hivemaker's Thymol emulsion using Lecithin to keep the Thymol mixed with the syrup.
If its fresh tap water, pre-boiling the water shouldn't be needed, but wouldn't do any harm. Just don't boil the syrup! (I'm trusting that the sugar is clean.)

 

[nickhodge]

I'm a first year beek but was told 2:1 syrup was ALWAYS imperial. That is 2lbs to 2 pints (2kg (4.4lb) to 1Ltr (1.76pints) is actually 2.27:1) Maybe that's pedantic???

I have just had similar dilemmas and experiences. Using warm tap water and sugar in spring with a 1:1 mix I got mould, as soon as I turned to boiling water, mixing with the sugar and allowing to cool it seemed to go away.

I am using Apilife VAR on my two national hives. You can smell the Eucalyptus in the air around but they are feeding like crazy (2 treatment saturday). I closed the entrances down to try and slow any robbing that some said may happen and for sure more bees are clustering around the entrance but i think that's just a traffic jam. They don't seem any more 'grouchy' for it anyhow.

I also placed varroa board in my open mesh floors but placed a foam strip above it to effectively seal the floor to better fumigate.

Who knows what's right, 100 different ideas on here but just a newbees £0.02

 

[Anduril]

Oops replied twice

 

[Anduril]

I'm a first year beek but was told 2:1 syrup was ALWAYS imperial. That is 2lbs to 2 pints (2kg (4.4lb) to 1Ltr (1.76pints) is actually 2.27:1) Maybe that's pedantic???

I have just had similar dilemmas and experiences. Using warm tap water and sugar in spring with a 1:1 mix I got mould, as soon as I turned to boiling water, mixing with the sugar and allowing to cool it seemed to go away.

I am using Apilife VAR on my two national hives. You can smell the Eucalyptus in the air around but they are feeding like crazy (2 treatment saturday). I closed the entrances down to try and slow any robbing that some said may happen and for sure more bees are clustering around the entrance but i think that's just a traffic jam. They don't seem any more 'grouchy' for it anyhow.

I also placed varroa board in my open mesh floors but placed a foam strip above it to effectively seal the floor to better fumigate.

Who knows what's right, 100 different ideas on here but just a newbees £0.02

2:1 is 2 parts sugar to 1 part water in other words 2 pounds of sugar to 1 pint of water or metric 2kg sugar to 1 litre of water. BTW I agree with Enrico. The best way to go. Keep imperial measurements together and metric together do not mix them

 

[ratcatcher]

your probably getting mold after they have taken it all, leaving air to come into contact with container and producing mold,

if your using this type of feeder

as the syrup gets very close to empty, remove the upside down cup, the bees will clean out all the residue of syrup and no mold

 

[ainsie]

Hi Aggravated, 2:1 sugar syrup is either 2lbs of sugar to 1pint of water or 1kg to 630ml hot water helps it dissolve quicker, no need to boil.2:1 mix is less likely to ferment than 1:1.Hope his helps. Ainsie

 

[For want of a better word]

Hi Aggravated, 2:1 sugar syrup is either 2lbs of sugar to 1pint of water or 1kg to 630ml hot water helps it dissolve quicker, no need to boil.2:1 mix is less likely to ferment than 1:1.Hope his helps. Ainsie

GOT IT... you are using HEAVY WATER !!!

or using VV as opposed to WW or is it WV or VW...


I use 2 kg of granulated sugar to 1kg water ( strangely that is 1 kg water !)
for the 2:1 mix

I wonder why people especially some beekeeperes make life so difficult for themselves !

 

[For want of a better word]

Grandad used to put his 1lb bags of sugar in the AGA warming oven to heat through to help dissolving... that was back in the first half of the LAST century... where old imperial measurements probably belong.. four foot~eight and one half~inches...?

 

[itma]

I came across a (Mrs?) Yates article on feeding amongst the 'Nutshells' on bee data dot com the other day.

Its a bit confused / confusing.
The emphasis is mine.

3. Preparing syrup for feeding:

Generally there are two types of mix, a thick syrup for autumn feeding which will be stored more or less immediately and thin syrup for spring or stimulative feeding which is to be consumed without storing. Most of the literature quotes the following:

Thick - 2 lb sugar to 1 pint of water gives 61.5% sugar concentration

Thin - 1 lb sugar to 2 pints of water gives 28.0% sugar concentration

Medium - 1 kg sugar to 1 litre of water gives 50.0% sugar concentration

Since the bee requires a concentration of 50% for it to digest and metabolise the sugar then it is clear which is the best one to use if the bees are to use it straight away. ...

Does the bee really *require* exactly 50% by weight for its digestion? Nature isn't usually quite that neat, or fussy.
File under Nutshells?