Making 1:1 Sugar Syrup

Sugar syrup 1:1, one part white sugar, one part water.

As it is still early spring, I was advised to feed the new honey bees with sugar syrup and pollen patties. Insects like all living organisms need high- quality food to reach their maximum potential. Bees will need to be fed by us, twice a year. Once in spring and another time in the fall. The early feeding, 1:1 water to sugar ratio will stimulates the activity in the hive, making the colony ready to "go to work". This syrup (carbohydrate) is also called "light" syrup as opposed to "heavy"syrup 2:1 given in the fall, more later.

Therefore, yesterday Ben and I made 6 gallons of sugar syrup in our kitchen...I tasted it. It is very very sweet. This is how we did it. We used a kitchen scale and placed a one gallon empty plastic pail on it, we tared it to zero. Then We poured the equivalent of 2 Kg. of hot tap water, then we added white sugar until the scale read 4 Kg. And voila! We did it 5 more time.

So now the question is, how are the bees going to drink from a plastic bucket? Well, on the lid there are small holes that Ben had drilled all around the perimeter.

Then using gravity, this pail will be set upside down over the hole on the inner cover. This will allow the bees to drink without being drenched, or drowned by the sugary substance as it will only "drip" if they use suction.

In addition to this delicious elixir, I will put a pollen patty (proteins) on each hive, right on the top bars where it will be easily accessible for the bees to eat. Because, I am starting 3 completely new colonies with brand new foundations ( beeswax structure composed of 2 layers of horizontal cells sharing their bases (see picture); this feeding as to be kept until either mid-June, or until the combs (which are parts of the foundation) are drawn out, meaning filled with eggs, larvae, nectar, pollen or wax, which ever comes first!

This is a great way to start ensuring that the honey bees will have nutritious nourishment giving them a boost in life!

Foundation in a frame

Combs, little hexagonal structures making up the

foundation, where bees keep everything from eggs to honey!