Bees typically consume nectar which they then convert to honey for winter storage, unlike humans who must adjust to eating sugar as an energy source. Unfortunately this can lead to complications when feeding on sweet foods like candy.
Fondant from our store is prepared from a combination of sugar types that is designed to meet bees’ nutritional requirements and serves as an excellent means of building nucleus colonies and queen breeding.
Contents
Ingredients
Ambrosia syrup is a liquid complete bee feed which closely approximates natural bee nutrition. Composed of fructise, glucose and sucrose in high concentration, its microbiological degradation risk is reduced while its high fructose (40% dry weight) content prevents crystallisation.
Bees need a diet rich in fructose, glucose and sucrose for optimal nutrient absorption and utilization. Our formulation provides bees with just such an optimal mixture.
This bee feed is manufactured without the use of brown sugar, molasses, sorghum or fruit juices which contain impurities that may lead to bee dysentery. Furthermore, cream of tartar (tartaric acid) in fall syrup has become less recommended as its presence raises HMF levels in honey bee colonies and could increase HMF toxicity levels, with no negative phosphate effects on colony metabolism processes – making this product ideal for fast and simple winter feeding or as an addition in spring to replenish honey stores.
Storage
Ambrosia syrup is a concentrated liquid bee food that mimics natural bee nutrition closely. Composed of various sugars including fructise, glucose and sucrose on top of pure white granulated sugar as the basis, its composition protects it from microbiological degradation while its high fructose content (40% dry weight) prevents crystallisation.
Bees collect nectar or honeydew using their proboscis to siphon runny fluids into their honey stomach, where enzymes split sucrose into levulose and dextrose that they then store away for future use.
Bees can quickly convert these sugars into forms suitable for brood rearing, hence light syrup ratios are sometimes employed to stimulate brood production in springtime.
Preparation
Bees use enzymes that invert sucrose into glucose and levulose through an exothermic reaction, and this process must occur before they can store their winter cluster with their syrup. Warm temperatures must be maintained so the invertase enzyme can work its magic; otherwise it could result in fermented sugar syrup that increases risk for nosema disease in colonies fed it.
Ambrosia syrup is a liquid food designed to mimic the nutrition bees find in natural flower nectar. It combines different sugar types in a balanced ratio with pure beet sugar as its base, making it resistant to microbiological spoilage while its low HMF content allows bees to easily take in and utilize nutrients, protecting energy balance in their energy balance and aiding production of new brood cells. Ideal as a supplement during late winter and early spring seasons and to stimulate brood production.
Use
This liquid bee food closely replicates natural bee nutrition. Composed of fructise, glucose and sucrose for maximum absorption by bees. Due to its high concentration it resists microbiological degradation while its high fructose content prevents crystallisation. With such an array of sugar types on their menu, this feeding liquid allows bees to optimally utilize their nutrition.
Plain white table sugar (sucrose) is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose. When heated, sucrose produces hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which can be harmful to honey bees. Ambrosia’s levels of HMF are kept to an acceptable threshold so as not to cause acidosis or drooping wings in bees.
Ambrosia from our ambrosia line closely mimics natural flower nectar and may be utilized by beekeepers if their bees do not have sufficient stores to sustain winter, or earlier if temperatures become colder than anticipated. Syrup feeding should stop once bees have sufficient forage or you install a honey super and begin rearing brood.
