Sugar syrup ratio

[Nyleve]

Will be dealing with my pathetically light hive today and just wanted to know what sugar/water proportion I should be using to feed them.

[capt44]

If your bees have not had time to fill out the food stores I would go with a 2-1 mix ratio of sugar syrup with Pro Health or Honey Bee Healthy additive.
But if you're not sure they would survive the winter you can merge them with another hive using the newspaper method.
I would rather have one live hive in the spring than a dead one.
In the spring you can split the hive and go from there.

[iddee]

I would combine them with another hive. Pro health and honey bee healthy will attract robbers this time of year.

[Vance G]

Why is the hive pathetically light is the real question.  If they are queenright and just late getting out of the gate, 2:1 syrup fed internally is what you need to.  Gallon zip lock bags with three quarts of syrup laid on the top bar and then with two small slits on the upper side of the bag only, will be taken in by the bees in less than a week.  Allow room for the baggie by placing a super over the bag and covering it totally.  No upper holes to allow raiders in to rob out the hive.  Oh yes, reduce the size of the entrance to about an inch so the bees can defend.  A pollen pattie is a good idea at the same time.  Do not delay.  It is getting late.  A boardman feeder will only invite a robbing disaster. 

[tefer2]

Honey B Healthy in the fall is a mistake you will only make once.
Any fall feeding needs to be inside the hive with reduced entrances.

[T Beek]

If you have a bunch of empty comb frames you can fill them with the thickest syrup (3-1) you can make with a paintbrush and place them inside, hoping they have enough time to cap.  Or just feed very thick syrup or fondant from above.

[Mackayboi]

Hi, i have recently acquired my first bee hive,
Is it ok to put sugar and water 1:1 and place it just outside the hive?
Or does doing so cause problems, such as encourage robbing or diseases?


I have put out a cup of syrup and they cleaned it up in hours, so they obviously love the present I give them.

[Michael Bush]

I would make syrup as thick as you can get it to dissolve.  Mine is usually 5:3, but if you can get 2:1 to dissolve I would use that.

[rwlaw]

Mackayboi, if your getting into spring time 1:1 is ok. If you have a outdoor feeder, it needs to be 100yrds (or meters) away from the hive. If you've got hungry neighbors, you'll start a robbing frenzy on your hive.