Hard fondant

[Monbees]

I have fondant on the top bars of two hives; bees have been eating it but it has now gone hard. Wondering if, weather permitting, l should replace it with new, soft fondant, or will bees be able to deal with it being hard?

 

[enrico]

I have fondant on the top bars of two hives; bees have been eating it but it has now gone hard. Wondering if, weather permitting, l should replace it with new, soft fondant, or will bees be able to deal with it being hard?

They will deal with it but if you can get it off easily then a quick spray of water on the surface won't do any harm
E

 

[Ian123]

I find a lot of the proper rock hard stuff gets wasted even launched. You could put more on if you like or a spray as suggested above. Any of mine that need more will be getting syrup and rock hard candy into a bucket to dissolve and added to the syrup.

 

[Murox]

Never experienced rock hard - what I do is only make a small hole/entrance through a large ziplock type bag containing a couple of kilos at a time and spray with water before I put it in. Any leftovers just get put into water and fed back as syrup later, no waste at all.

 

[Monbees]

I find a lot of the proper rock hard stuff gets wasted even launched. You could put more on if you like or a spray as suggested above. Any of mine that need more will be getting syrup and rock hard candy into a bucket to dissolve and added to the syrup.

Syrup in winter?

 

[drex]

Just lifted the crown board on my nucs. Some had consumed all the fondant, so were given fresh. Others had some left, it was hard but they were still working it. Smoked them down and sprayed it with water and put some fresh over the top. Hopefully now that will take them all through to first inspection.
Lovely and sunny and warm, out of the wind. All flying, mainly orientation flights, a little pollen going in. Blackthorn out in some places near the bees, but not much yet

 

[Ian123]

Syrup in winter?

For me forecast back end of next week temps are into double figures bees will take syrup I will obviously adjust if that changes but those that are light will get syrup. It’s irrelevant what the calendar says but go with your conditions

 

[E&MBees]

I swapped the hard fondant for fresh today. Is the best way to store it in a plastic container until it can be dissolved in water? When dissolving, do you just add a small amount of water at a time? What about the concentration of the resulting syrup?

 

[Ian123]

I swapped the hard fondant for fresh today. Is the best way to store it in a plastic container until it can be dissolved in water? When dissolving, do you just add a small amount of water at a time? What about the concentration of the resulting syrup?

Mix up a quantity of syrup at whatever ratio Chuck in your lumps whilst still warm and all my mixing is done with a drill so matters little. The exact ratio is a complete irrelevance and matters not to the bees! At this time of the year though I simply go thinner, as am not trying to force stores into them but just top them up and encourage build up.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Syrup in winter?

It's not illegal. They are going to eat it not store it at this time so as long as it's warm enough for them to go up to it it's fine. I use invert so it won't ferment and as I leave the feeders on my nucs over winter there's usually some left over in there for the spring if they're short of food.

 

[Millet]

It's not illegal. They are going to eat it not store it at this time so as long as it's warm enough for them to go up to it it's fine. I use invert so it won't ferment and as I leave the feeders on my nucs over winter there's usually some left over in there for the spring if they're short of food.

Ehh it is baltic out there..if i put sugar syrup on my hives it would still be there come the OSR flow..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ehh it is baltic out there..if i put sugar syrup on my hives it would still be there come the OSR flow..

Which is why it matters where you are.
We have had a few frosts but nothing much. Windy yes.
Every time I have checked the crown boards under the insulation they have been warm.

 

[Swarm]

My nucs have the feeders left on over winter, they have the old shallow roof so I added insulation to prevent condensation on the viewing window. It cured that problem straight away and the bees will happily take invert unless it's really bad, maybe even then.