Candy for bees: how to prepare top dressing

The maintenance of the apiary, the care of the bees is a rather difficult task. Not everyone is capable of solving such problems. Experienced farmers say there are many important issues to consider in order for a family to produce a rich harvest next season. Beekeepers share their secrets free of charge and advise you to pay great attention to feeding issues. Moreover, this must be done not only in the winter period of time. Candy for bees is considered the best; you can prepare such a healthy treat for bees yourself.

Features and benefits of candy for bees

There is nothing complicated in this product. It is a mixture of sugar and honey, prepared in a specific proportion. Many beekeepers only use sweet syrups. It is effective, but the benefit is minimal. Applying kandy to bees stimulates their immunity, survival rate, and increases fertility. That is why such feeding is often used in winter. So you can get a healthy, renewed, strong bee colony in the spring.

For the first time, the product was prepared by the German beekeeper Kandy Scholz, which explains the unusual name of the product. Kandy quickly gained popularity and today there are many recipes for its preparation. Each beekeeper has added his own flavor to the recipe, but the basic composition remains unchanged. The main thing is that cooking does not require special skills and extra costs. Usually the product has a dense texture, does not spread, so it can be placed on the bottom of the hive or on nest frames.

Experienced beekeepers do not recommend using pure honey. It can contain germs that kill many bees. Sugar is best used inverted. Unlike usual sand, this product contains more mineral nutrients, glucose and fructose.

A kind of candy

Honey and sugar are the base. Depending on the fillers, beekeepers distinguish several varieties of kandy:

• candy without additives;
• with nosemat, contains antibiotics and is intended for the treatment of bee nosematosis;
• with flower pollen to restore carbohydrate and protein balance;
• energetic to restore the strength of the bee after wintering;
• with vitamins and protein for early spring replenishment;
• with thymol it is used for the prevention of nosematosis and foulbrood diseases, ascopherosis;
• with herbal tinctures (mint, yarrow, calendula, St. John’s wort) strengthens the bee’s immune system;
• with cobalt chloride increases protein and carbohydrate reserves, accelerates the synthesis of vitamin B12.

Any kind of feeding promotes rapid recovery after the winter period, spring feeding of bees has a beneficial effect on brood and prevents the appearance of diseases.

Bee Candy Recipes

For a cooked kandy to have value, you need to prepare the ingredients. The base contains one quarter honey and three quarters sugar. In addition, you will need water and acetic acid. The honey must be of exceptional quality. If this is not the case, then there is a risk of infection of the whole family.

The process of preparing kandy for bees is carried out in stages:

1. Combine and heat honey to a temperature that does not exceed 55 degrees. The sugared particles must completely dissolve. It is better to do this in a water bath.
2. It is better to grind sugar to a powder state. You can use a coffee grinder. In small portions, add the powder to honey, stirring constantly.
3. Once the honey stops absorbing the powder, you can stop adding the honey. The standard proportion is 1: 3.
4. Pour out the resulting dough with your hands. At this time, you can add a little residual sugar or powder. Knead this dough for at least 25 minutes.
5. Check readiness. To do this, you need to roll a small ball. If he does not stick to his hands, then the kandi is ready.
6. Divide the mixture into equal parts, put in bags and store in the refrigerator until feeding.

Now it is easy to make sure that the recipe for kandy with flour (powdered sugar) is not difficult. Can be prepared in large quantities and used as needed. A few more recipes will be useful to the beekeeper:

1. Fondant recipe. This can be the basis for making kandy. Heat a liter of water and add 2 kg to the liquid. Sahara. While stirring constantly, wait until the sugar is completely dissolved. Check doneness with a spoon. Drops of syrup should not run.
2. The recipe for kandy with flour comes in handy at a time when the family needs bee bread. Soy flour is commonly used as it is rich in protein. The flour to sugar ratio is 1: 3. They are introduced into warm water, stirring constantly.
3. Recipe with honey and milk powder. For cooking, you will need honey (3 kg), milk powder (1 kg) and sugar (10 kg). Melt honey and gradually add sugar. Then add milk powder and, fashionably, a little water. Knead, transfer the dough to cheesecloth, put in the refrigerator. After a day, this top dressing can be used.

It is advisable to observe the recommended proportions and not forget about the quality of the original ingredients. These are the requirements of all GOSTs and the recommendations of experienced beekeepers. It is not difficult to cook kandy for bees at home in order to provide a balanced diet for the family in February, March and during the cold season, as well as after the first flight.

When and how to feed

Every experienced beekeeper knows when and how to feed. Injuries in spring or winter. But the most important must necessarily happen in early spring. The reproduction and productivity of bees depends on this. This must be done after the bees have made the first flight. The owner carefully examines the hive and the state of the uterus. If everything is ok, you can put the kandy.

Do not forget that in winter every bee needs to replenish nutrients. That is why it is necessary to feed in winter, in February. Such honey dough is carefully laid out on the bottom of the hives or on the upper grate. It is desirable that the entire volume is packaged in bags, each 300 gr. This rate is calculated per day for each hive. Keep in the refrigerator for XNUMX hours and spread over the hives. If the kandy is quickly sorted out by the bees, you need to add another portion. The finished top dressing or honey dough is stored in the refrigerator.

The deadline for feeding is June. But experienced beekeepers do not recommend delaying feeding. Moreover, the preparation of kandy is not difficult. It is worth remembering that all products must be clean, it is better to sift sugar, flour, powdered sugar before cooking. All debris and small particles will simply end up at the bottom of the hive.

Tip:

In order to increase the digestibility of kandy, beekeepers recommend adding vinegar to the mixture. 0,3 g It will be needed for a liter of sugar syrup. Top dressing should be started one and a half months before the active collection of honey. Hunger forces the bees to leave the hives. Unstable weather conditions often lead to their death.

Timely feeding will preserve the family, increase their reproduction and strengthen the immunity of each bee. Thanks to timely action, a strong brood appears and the yield of honey increases.

During the feeding period, do not forget about the benefits of soy flour. It is the richest source of protein that is beneficial for the future brood. The flour can be displayed close to the hives after the first flyby, or it can be placed in specialized feeders. The bees independently choose the required amount. The beekeeper only needs to replenish the container. With such feeding, it is necessary to control the filling of the drinkers. The death of a family is, first of all, a lack of food. Eating kandy or other types of food, bees actively move, generating heat. This ability gives them the opportunity to calmly survive the winter.