syrup

[peteinwilts]

Hi Guys

If kept 'cool' (not refridgerated) how long will syrup last for??

Last year, I had two very small colonies which took rather a lot of syrup. I found myself making syrup every other day, and feeding every other day.

Cheers
Pete

 

[Poly Hive]

I make it as required.

When I was feeding on a larger scale it never sat around long enough to go off.

At this time of course it is 1:1 ratio and not the winter 2:1

PH

 

[ian]

Hi Pete

Add a small amount of thymol to your syrup and it will keep from 1 season to the next if kept sealed/cold/dark


Regards Ian

 

[ENZO]

Half a teaspoon of thymol in a table spoon of surgical spirit or vodka to dissolve the thymol (thymol will not dissolve well in syrup otherwise) and add the mixture to 2 gallons (9 liter) of syrup.

The syrup will then last for years, not that you would want to keep it that long, otherwise mold will start to grow within a few days if in an unsealed container and only a little longer in a sealed container.

I mix my thymol/syrup outside as it smells terrible and I am sure will do you no good if you breathed it in.

I've been doing this for years now in autumn and spring feeds and have had no problems and the bees seem happy enough.

Enzo.

 

[ENZO]

Sorry Ian, we must have answered at the same time, I'am just a slow typer

Enzo

 

[peteinwilts]

thank you both! I am thinking of a food grade 25 litre container, kept in an old freezer in a stable.... cool, dark and sealed.

I was not thinking a huge amount of time...just a month or two

 

[Hombre]

I do believe that ENZO's recommendation is a little on the strong side for the purpose.

Please see the original post, #2 in the thread, on this subject which I like to think is the authoritative reference on the subject.


http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=627

((I hear that Hivemaker has a stripy rugby shirt))

 

[Hivemaker.]

Hombre,sold that shirt to poly hive,he's your man.

 

[Hombre]

Ha ha, Nice to have a slightly humerous/subversive thread running through the routine day to day business.

Thanks for the original thymol tincture recipe.

 

[BKF Admin]

I also use the recipe Hivemaker posted.

I make up the syrup in the kitchen then go into the garage to add the Thymol from a bottle I store there.

Anyone have a good price for Thymol crystals as I only have a little left,Is wynne jones about the best price still ?

 

[ian]

Hi

W Jones is normally very good, I did send a mail off to that company posting cheap oxalic on ebay but no reply.

Regards Ian

 

[Poly Hive]

Julie went to Markies and came home with.... guess.....

On a more serious note is it possible to dissolve fondant and make syrup from it? I have rather a lot left and it seems silly to have it taking up space when I could recycle it.




PH

 

[ian]

Hi Pete

I often chuck a few left over bits into the mixing drum, but thats as far as it goes. The harder/older bits take a little time even with an electric paddle.

No reason why you still can't feed it to nuc's or those that need it though?


Regards Ian

 

[Poly Hive]

Hmm yes but....

I think that at this time giving syrup is probably better as it supplies water as well as sweeties... and so kills two birds.

PH

 

[ian]

Hi Pete

Yes dead right, and if I also had a hive that was very light then I would rather get some syrup into them. I do however put candy if any is left over onto some early nuc's and those colonies that need a bit of help and it works just fine. At least then it's not wasted or sitting around like you say.


Regards Ian

 

[Poly Hive]

I need to get some syrup on this weekend really so will have a go at dissolving some fondant and will report back.

PH

 

[ian]

Hi

Scot's blood showing again.................................................

 

[MrB]

I also use the recipe Hivemaker posted.

Can you point me to the recipe? Thanks

 

[BKF Admin]

It was a post made by Hivemaker last year.

From memory its:

30 gm thymol dissolved in 150 ml of surgical spirit,
I buy my spirit in 200ml bottles from the chemist,so I add 10mg per 50 ml x 4=40gm in 200ml.


Then its:
One teaspoon to 13.5 litres of syrup.

.37ml/litre of syrup.
(Thats just under half a ml per litre not thirty seven ml's)
Can someone check the maths for me?

 

[Hombre]

For what it's worth

Admin Your math is good. At the rate to prevent fermentation. 0.37mL per 3 gallons (13.5L).

Hivemaker suggested for general use that the tincture should be used at 5mL per gallon (4.55L) which works out at or about 1mL per Litre. That is three times the dosage that you have mentioned for anti fermentation use.

He further suggested that multiples of this tincture dose should be used depending on the purpose required. This was not specified, but generally considered to be an anti nosema treatment/aid.

The different requirements for which the tincture is used and the prevalence of interchangable units of measure gallons and litres continues to make a little confusion from time to time.

I confess to measuring in litres and thinking in gallons. It is a fact of my generation I suspect. Brought up with imperial units of measure we regularly check our metric calculations are as we expect them to be. Younger people brought up with SI units just get on with it, but become confused and have to start checking when the imperial units get mixed into the equations.

No one is wrong of course; it just makes life that much more interesting.