ratio of sugar to water
n.gwinn
14 years ago
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hummersteve
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agovickilovesboxers
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Suger water or not for your bees?
Comments (6)james and conrad, excuse my onehanded typing, i am holding an injured chick in the other hand that wants comforting. thank you for the response, i understand the neccesity of a spring feed in some situations, but as you say if enough honey is left that should not be an issue. the method i have seen so far is too feed them sugar water all the time and my mentor has said to leave them ten full frames or one full super of honey for the winter on three super high hives. four are new hives that did well, then struggled withmites and thenmade a good comeback after treating them. some people i have talked to about our honey have said that they can taste the difference in the honey because he feeds them constantly with sugar water. i am not a fan of white sugar to begin with but since i am still a novice at beekeeping and he has been kind enough to teach me i have done as i am told. in the future i may want to switch to less or no sugar water so i need to become educated about the neccesity of it. i have another question if i may, do you treat for varoa mites with menthol crystals? if so, am i correct in thinking that no honey should be taken after treatment until the following year because the honey will be contaminated? if that is the case, how toxic is the menthol crystals? would it require us to make all new frames for next year and not take any of the old honey if there were any? it seems to me that somthing that strong would soak into the frames, box, and anything else. do you start with new supers and move your bees into them in the spring then make brand new honey supers and frames? we have been spinning our honey and reusing the empty comb, but once treated for mites i dont think they will be usable anymore will they? my mentor does not know anything about the toxicity of the menthol crystals he uses, puts the paper towels soaked in it on with bare hands. is that safe? and yes i am a bit chemical paranoid, i just dont want to go to the hard work of getting natural raw honey and then contaminate it by being ignorant. the smell of the stuff is so strong, it makes me sick. i dont have the label to check and see if there are any other ingredients in it, but even natural extracts can be toxic in too high a concentration. i have pestered you enough, i will go now. thanks very much for your help. lisa...See MoreCan You use anything else besides cane sugar in feeders?
Comments (11)Below is a link to a site that tells you more than you may want to know about the process of deriving sugar from sugar cane, and from beets. There are a bunch of tabs at the top, and you can move around the site, learning about all sorts of things such as how unrefined sugar is made, and also about the refining process that results in pure, white sucrose. One relevant quote is this: "White sugar is essentially pure sucrose and there is no difference between that derived from cane and that from beet." I did, however, read one part that said different refined sugars might be sweeter than others because they are composed of smaller crystals. I guess this would result in more dense sugar, with less air spaces between crystals. I don't know. Look for it, read it, and see what you think. You can also type in a page from the hummingbirds.net website-- http://www.hummingbirds.net/hainsworth.html. It will get you to an article by hummingbird researchers. In the article there is an interesting discussion about ranges of sugar concentrations in natural nectars, and in feeder solutions, and how this affects the frequency of hummingbird feeding trips. Although flower nectar can contain three different sugars--sucrose, glucose, and fructose, when given a choice, the birds show a definite preference for pure sucrose over pure glucose or fructose. As far as I can determine, once it has been fully refined, sucrose is sucrose, whether it comes from beets or sugar cane. Here is a link that might be useful: Sugar cane, sugar beets, and sugar refining...See MoreWhat am I doing wrong? (sugar water)
Comments (23)Humidity is a factor. I discovered that when it is really humid or when whe have had a lot of rain like we did last year, I had to change and clean the feeders every couple of days. Humidity coupled with high heat even if the feeders are in the shade will cause mold, mildew and fungi to grow quicker than when the air is dry. Here in western NY state it has been in the 90's nearly all summer which is extremely unusual for this area. We have also been having very high humidity (gee, I feel like I am back in Louisiana) and I am changing out my feeders every other day. On a couple of occasions when it hit 98 and 99, I changed them each day. As soon as the nectar is made, it goes into the refrigerator. Penny...See MoreAnna's Hummingbird feeding
Comments (9)Hi, Dotty. I got my first over-wintering Anna's hummingbird visitor last year, right about this time. This year, my winter visitor showed up in late September, right where I had my window feeder last winter. Good memory. There is a fascinating research paper that discusses your questions and many more about feeding hummingbirds. If I can find it (not so good memory), I'll post a link. The researchers found that the sugar concentrations of North American flower nectar range from about 50 percent sugar, or about 2 (water) to 1 (sugar), to 5 (water):1 (sugar). Most summer flowers were 3:1 or 4:1. Apparently, hummers drink only when they're hungry and stop when they're full, on a calorie (not volume) basis, so the higher the sugar concentration, the more attractive the nectar--and the less time a hummer will spend feeding at that high-energy source. In winter, I use a 3:1 solution until temperatures drop into the low-20s, when I shift the solution to 2:1. Increasing the sugar lowers the freezing point and gives the birds more calories with less effort. The downside is that you won't see them as long at your feeder. But even that works out well, because more hummers get access to the feeder, instead of just one bird guarding the area for half the day. On a separate note, I have found that the traditional hanging tube feeder drains quickly in the rain. Rain runs down the outside of the feeder, down the tube, and pulls the nectar out with it. I switched to a small window-mounted bowl-type feeder, which has a cover and a little overhanging rain shield, but rain that blows onto the bowl cover drains into the holes and dilutes the nectar after a day or two. I think feeders with little plastic flowers might not allow as much water to run into the bowl. In any case, enjoy your Anna's!...See Morekr222
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agohummersteve
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPaulDavid63
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12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPaulDavid63
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12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPaulDavid63
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agohummersteve
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPaulDavid63
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoctnchpr
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPaulDavid63
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12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLinda Fischer
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