During the winter, bees need a higher-carbohydrate source than honey. So they combine white sugar and hot water, and their bodies are satisfied. The trick is not to boil the syrup – boiling changes the chemical composition of sugar and makes it indigestible for bees. You can also use a mixture of Surgical spirit and Thymol. Read on for more information!
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Cane sugar
To feed bees, you can make a sugar syrup out of cane sugar and water. A 2:1 sugar to water ratio will be enough for the first two colonies, and you can use heavy syrup for the last two. Large commercial beekeepers don’t mix or feed their bees with light syrup, but you can. Using warm water dissolves sugar crystals faster. You can make two gallons of syrup by adding 10 pounds of sugar to five quarts of water.
Another sugar alternative for bees is HFCS, which is often sold under the name Equal or Nutrasweet. It is not suitable for feeding bees. In addition, high fructose corn syrup is commonly fed to bees in commercial applications. High fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, is derived from corn and is a mixture of fructose and dextrose. Some beekeepers consider this sugar mixture to be equal to cane sugar because it has no sucrose.
Thymol
Adding thymol to a 2 to 1 sugar syrup for bees is not a bad idea. Bees don’t mind the extra sugar, but the natural compound is not so easily soluble in water. The concentration of thymol should be as low as possible. Bees can tolerate the thymol, and it trains them to forage for it.
Apiguard (r) contains thymol, which has been shown to suppress mites. The chemical is not completely understood, but it interferes with GABA-ergic signalling in the central nervous system. Honey bees are sensitive to GABA, so thymol may affect them negatively. Another chemical commonly found in 2 to 1 sugar syrup for bees contains thymol, eucalyptus oil, and camphor. These chemicals have also been shown to impair bees’ olfactory memory.
To make the syrup, dissolve 30g of thymol crystals in 150ml of isopropyl alcohol. Use an airtight container and pour the solution into a honey jar or a wide-necked glass bottle. The syrup should be pale straw-coloured, and not black. Stored syrups can develop black fungal growth. Thymol prevents this growth by preventing black fungal growth in the syrup.
Surgical spirit
Beekeepers use two types of syrups: light and heavy. Light syrup contains 1 part sugar and one part water, similar to the natural sugar-rich nectars of bees. Heavy syrup is 2 parts sugar to one part water and bees will quickly convert this to honey. Professional beekeepers usually use a commercial sucrose-HFCS mixture. Other manufacturers also sell various sugar products.
Both of these sugar syrups have different properties. Light syrup is best for early-season feeding and is more easily digested by bees. It is also great for feeding captured swarms and weakened colonies. For best results, feed light syrup a few days before splitting the hive and feeding the swarms. Surgical spirit syrup for bees contains a higher level of sugar and can be more easily capped off in bee cells.
pH adjustment
The acidification of two-to-one sugar syrup for bees is one method used to adjust pH levels in the hives. It is a natural process that occurs when sugar is boiled and then allowed to cool. However, the concentration of HMF can be higher with prolonged heating. Moreover, the ripeness of lemons, season, and climate are all factors that determine the acidity of sugar solutions. These factors are related to the pH levels that are harmful for bees.
Beekeepers can also use 2:1 syrup for the fall feeding of their hives. Bees will get a lot of moisture from the top feeders, but this type of syrup can be moldy if the hive is not regularly fed with honey. Nevertheless, beekeepers who don’t have access to HFCS have reported better results using sucrose syrup inverted.
