Candy Board

11/21/2012

With colder weather setting in, you should have stopped feeding your bees any liquids by now. If you still have feeders, you probably notice the bees do not take much when the night time temperature plunges and they cluster.

Did you check the weight of the colonies the last time you were at your hive(s)? Even if the hive(s) are not light, it is still a good idea to furnish each colony with a candy board.    It may prevent your bees from "starving to death" even though there may be many frames of honey just inches away from the cluster.

There are several recipies for the "candy" in candy boards.   Do an internet search to get more information on construction of the candy board, the recipe for the candy or where to buy them if you prefer not to or do not have the time to make them.

The candy board (candy side down) will replace the inner cover on the hive.   You can quickly check it every 3 weeks or so to see if it has been consumed and needs to be replaced.   So it is a good idea to have one spare board to give to a colony which has consumed all the candy on the board you previously put on the colony.

4 Comments

2 Let It Bee, Inc. The Honey Bee Revitalization Project link

11/20/2012 10:44:27 pm

We have this recipe posted on our website and I thought I would share it with your readers.

Emil Kaluza - I have my own recipe for candy board.
Bring 2 quarts of water and one pint of steeped cooled chamomile tea to a boil with a pinch of salt. Add in parts 25 pounds granulated sugar. Stir as not to burn. Bring back too 230 degrees ( it will take a while) stirring ( if it turns brown its burnt and toxic to bees. When it boils at 230 for 10 minutes stir in 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar and continue to stir removing from heat. As soon as boil comes down, let sit and cool to under 200 degrees ( the cooler, the more frosting like, the hotter the more hard candy) When it gets to desired temp whisk or beat with mixer till whiteness appears. Pour into forms (sugar is hot and dangerous at this temp, it will burn you to the bone, and you can't wipe it off, if it starts spilling, resist the impulse to catch it in your hand ) Let cool overnight. In my experience, one ten pound candy board will winter a hive without opening it during the cold weather except on warm afternoons.

Thank you Emil Kaluza from the Central Texas Beekepers Association & Friends.

Lincoln Land Bee Keepers Association link

11/20/2012 11:04:38 pm

For persons with a few colonies, Lincoln Land Bee Keepers Association has a candy board recipe posted on their website. It is a simple recipe (only two ingredients - water and sugar). It is also common to put 1/2 of a pollen patty on the board before you pour the candy mixture on the board. So if you have "spent" candy boards from last year, you can use this recipe to "refill" them.

http://www.lincolnlandbeekeepers.com/download.html

The listed recipe is for one candy board. If you have a lot of colonies, you can scale the recipe up.

Mike Mason

10/1/2013 02:15:45 pm

I like the simple recipe utilized by the Lincoln Land Beekeepers group. It is easy and I have never had to worry about burning or scorching the sugar. Boil the water, stir in the sugar and let it rip till it hits temp and pour.

You do need to let it fully set for a day before standing on end or tilting.

Lighting Hialeah link

7/30/2022 01:08:53 pm

This was lovely thanks for writing this

Candy Board

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