Dry sugar feed

[Gunzo]

Any thoughts on dry sugar feed over paper? Seen it on you tube and am really tempted to try it on one of my nuc’s this week.

Any past experiences. Do’s dont’s would be great.

 

[Ian123]

Stick with candy I am sure the majority of dry sugar just gets wasted.

 

[monarda]

Any thoughts on dry sugar feed over paper? Seen it on you tube and am really tempted to try it on one of my nuc’s this week.

Any past experiences. Do’s dont’s would be great.

Recently placed home made "sugar bricks" on hives which seem to work very well except for one I made which when placed on top bars virtually collapsed into piles of sugar ( must of got sugar/water mix just off) and this one has been rejected by bees who Ive been watching flying out with the grains.

 

[Stiffy]

Started using sugar blocks this year and very impressed, bees love em and they are reasonably cheap. Google Beeman sugar blocks for a really good recipe
S

 

[For want of a better word]

like these?
https://www.chelsea.co.nz/our-products/everyday/raw-sugar-cubes/
Do you just take of the crown board and drop them in?

 

[Camey]

I added dry sugar to both my hives 3 weeks ago, placed into an empty English feeder over central hole in crown board. Working better than I thought, any residual moisture is absorbed by sugar creating a crusty feed that both hives have been chomping on slowly, buckfast more than the mongrels.

 

[theeggman]

I think in the past P.H. has dunked a bag of suger in water and fed it to the bees, as an emergency feed measure.

I'm sure he will correct me if my grey cells are dying faster than the rest of me.

 

[Angry_Mob]

like these?
https://www.chelsea.co.nz/our-products/everyday/raw-sugar-cubes/
Do you just take of the crown board and drop them in?

No, never give bees raw, brown etc sugar. Only white granulated.

I think this is the video referred to earlier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2jgHZrH4Ds ?

 

[Poly Hive]

Not me I feed fondant. I have never fed dry sugar/sugar bricks call it what you want.

There is a tricky balance between getting the sugar too wet and or too dry, and for me thats too high a risk.

Hence my ekes and fondant.

KISS

PH

and you know what? If it sounds too good to be true...........

 

[Stiffy]

like these?
https://www.chelsea.co.nz/our-products/everyday/raw-sugar-cubes/
Do you just take of the crown board and drop them in?

No, nothing like a sugar cube.
In my view they certainly are a lot more easier than trying to make fondant but then some make any simple idea very complex.
S

 

[theeggman]

Not me I feed fondant. I have never fed dry sugar/sugar bricks call it what you want.
..

P.H. Thinking further (which is tricky these days) it may have been o90owner. for taking your name in vain.

 

[pargyle]

P.H. Thinking further (which is tricky these days) it may have been o90owner. for taking your name in vain.

It has been mentioned on here a few times in the past .. and I think it's been something that has been done by some beekeepers for years .. decades probably ! I recall my father making and filling some sort of frame feeders with sugar that he dampened back in the awful winter (and subsequent spring) of 1963. He had WBC hives and the boxes were small compared to my 14 x 12's these days and spring didn't seem to happen that year in Yorkshire. We had stuffed the lifts with straw and put old bits of carpet over the hives but he obviously needed to feed his bees to get them through as I remember him opening the hives with inches of snow on the ground in order to add these feeder frames.

It's a long time ago and whilst I helped with his bees at times I really didn't take a great deal of interest - I rather regret that.

 

[monarda]

No, nothing like a sugar cube.
In my view they certainly are a lot more easier than trying to make fondant but then some make any simple idea very complex.
S

Out of curiosity, do you add anything to your sugar/water mix ?

 

[Stiffy]

Out of curiosity, do you add anything to your sugar/water mix ?

I don’t add water but follow the recipe on the beemans page. https://ukbees.co.uk/2017/10/22/winter-feeding-sugar-blocks/
S

 

[monarda]

I don’t add water but follow the recipe on the beemans page. https://ukbees.co.uk/2017/10/22/winter-feeding-sugar-blocks/
S

Just watched the link , thankyou ,what would you say are the advantages of adding lemon grass and vinegar ? Have you noticed improvement in hive health?
Dave

 

[Stiffy]

Just watched the link , thankyou ,what would you say are the advantages of adding lemon grass and vinegar ? Have you noticed improvement in hive health?
Dave

I rely mainly on making sure my hives are very well fed in the autumn, so I haven't been using sugar blocks for long and only on hives that are now looking a bit light. Any positives or negatives, will only be evident when the hives are out of winter, so too early to say.
The lemongrass I imagine is just an attractant for bees and the cider vinegar is , again without fully knowledge just used as a binder. Cider vinegar has numerous benefits for human consumption, if any of these benefits apply to bees, again I do not know.
Benefit, I have definitely found is that they are relatively easy top make, the bees take to the blocks readily and cost compared to fondant.
S

 

[monarda]

I rely mainly on making sure my hives are very well fed in the autumn, so I haven't been using sugar blocks for long and only on hives that are now looking a bit light. Any positives or negatives, will only be evident when the hives are out of winter, so too early to say.
The lemongrass I imagine is just an attractant for bees and the cider vinegar is , again without fully knowledge just used as a binder. Cider vinegar has numerous benefits for human consumption, if any of these benefits apply to bees, again I do not know.
Benefit, I have definitely found is that they are relatively easy top make, the bees take to the blocks readily and cost compared to fondant.
S

This year Ive just used sugar/water to make bricks to top up hives but am really interested in alternative recipes and like the idea of using them as a chance to add something which may be beneficial to the bees health. Thanks again
Dave

 

[masterBK]

the vinegar will increase the HMF in the block and shorten the life of the bees that consume a little.

 

[Beefriendly]

Does adding vinegar/cider vinegar to sugar produce HMF?
Adding sulphuric acid to sugar does, but adding Hydrochloric you get 5-chloromethylfurfural not HMF....and so on.
I cannot find any scientific reference to cider vinegar +sugar producing HMF, other than the usual beekeeping "gospel" that acidic sugar produces HMF. Which is not necessarily correct.

 

[Repwoc]

Does adding vinegar/cider vinegar to sugar produce HMF?

I don't think so. It needs a strong acid to catalyse the dehydration reactions. Acetic is a weak acid.