RECIPE #1 Sugar Candy for Honey Bees 2 cups water 5 lb. of white sugar
Mix in large tall kettle – soup pot. Heat slowly to 238 degrees (medium ball) on a candy thermometer. Keep thermometer off bottom of the kettle. Syrup will turn white / soft rolling boil. Takes about 30 – 40 minutes in a good size pot so it does not boil over. Do not scorch as burned or caramelized syrup can cause high bee mortality. Cool some / pour into candy board or other form to hold until hard.
RECIPE #2 Bee Candy 5 lb. white sugar 1 1/3 cup water 1 tsp. cream of tartar – prevents mold 1 pint WHITE corn syrup
Need: Large / deep stock pot (heavy bottom works best) Candy thermometer Cake pan lined w/wax or prepared candy board Paint stirrer with strong drill to beat candy 'Tunnel’ spacer for candy board
This candy can be put in a candy board and placed on the hives when they are wrapped or can be made in a cake pan for emergency feeding in the spring.
The candy board is an ‘inner cover’ with deeper sides so that it can hold the candy. Pound a number of large head nails on the ‘inside’ of the candy board to help hold the candy to the board when it is turned upside down on the hive in place of the inner cover.
Set candy board
with nails up (center hole down) on a counter. Place the ‘tunnel’ from the
center to the exit notch on the short side of the frame. 
Put all ingredients in a large deep kettle. Stir to mix everything so that the sugar is not on the bottom and burns when you heat the kettle.
Bring to a boil,
stir for a while, and keep boiling until it reaches a temperature of 240
degrees (soft ball). Keep thermometer off bottom of kettle. The mixture will be
clear and very hot.  Once it reaches 240 degrees, set the kettle in a deep sink
in ice water to help cool.  To cool further and speed the ‘set up’ time, beat
mixture with a paint mixer using a strong drill. As the candy cools, it will
get very thick and eventually turn cloudy. Once it starts to get cloudy, it
will ‘set up’ in about two minutes. The beating time is at least 10 minutes. Be
patient, it will get cloudy. Once cloudy and very thick, quickly turn into a cake pan lined with wax paper or onto a prepared candy board. If you are using a candy board, make sure the tunnel stays in place. It will be removed once the candy starts to set up.   If you use a cake pan and want to have small blocks to feed, score with a knife. Once it has cooled further, it will break on the scored lines – make the scores deep – all the way through. If you want to feed all at once, leave in the cake pan until totally cooled.
Candy can be frozen to use later. If the candy does not set up, it will be sticky and the bees will get stuck to it when they try to eat it. Not good.
DO NOT MAKE A DOUBLE BATCH. Even in a deep kettle, mixing with the paint mixer causes the candy to splash up the sides of the kettle. A double batch will cause candy to splash out all over your work surface and on you – very hot!
RECIPE #3 Bee Candy board This recipe is the easiest, yet there is some waste of sugar as the bees eat their way through since the candy as it is not ‘hard’ candy like the two above.
Need: 4 to 8 pounds of sugar (or more depending on depth of candy board) Mister to spray water Water – very small amount –¼ cup or a little more for small board Candy board frame HALF INCH mesh wire stapled to board Tissue paper ‘tunnel’ made from wood or cardboard Carrying board a little bigger than candy board Construct a
candy board using a frame of 1 to 2 inches high to match the 8 or 10 frame box. Cut an ‘exit’ in one of the short edges for
bees to use as an upper entrance (like on an inner cover). Cut wire mesh so
that the edges can be folded inside the frame and stapled to hold in place. Cut
the corners to help fold the wire mesh. OR
Cut the mesh to fit the edge of the
frame. Tape ends so you don’t scratch yourself. Now you have a wire mesh ‘box’
to hold the sugar. Construct a
‘tunnel’ using a piece of wood or other items to make a tunnel from the center
of the candy board to the upper exit on the frame. This ‘tunnel’ can be used by
the bees once they have reached the candy board. Place the candy board on a ‘carrier’ that will hold the mesh flat – do not want it to sag too much and hit the tops of the frames it is set on. A corelle counter saver works well or a piece of plywood.
Set the candy board with wire mesh down on the carrier. Put two layers of white tissue paper on the inside of the wire mesh and up the sides to hold the sugar from falling through the wire mesh. The paper new foundation is wrapped in works great. Place the ‘tunnel’ from center of board to upper exit.
Sprinkle a little sugar across the tissue paper. Spray lightly with water. Repeat until the candy board is as full as you want. DO NOT use too much mist/water. A little water goes a long way in making the sugar get crusty and hard enough that it will not fall through the tissue paper. The candy board can be carried to a place to set up using the carrier. Remove the ‘tunnel’ spacer.
RECIPE #4 Sugar Board 1 cup water 4 # sugar (8 cups) 1 tsp. white vinegar
Quickly pour into 9 x 13 cake pan lined with Teflon baking sheet; parchment baking paper or re-use the paper from between the wax foundation carton along with clothes pins to secure. Paper may remain on sugar board. Bees will eat through the paper.
Score quickly to allow breaking.  |
Recipes for the Bees >