What is fondant for bees made of?

white cane sugar
Fondant is just sugar, water and a small amount of vinegar. The best sugar is to use is just plain white cane sugar.

Is Bee fondant hard or soft?

Fondant is softer than hard candy. In fact, it is squeezable and pliable like dough. Many beekeepers believe that fondant is easier for the bees to eat than hard candy.

What do bees do with fondant?

If placed on the hive in late summer or early in the autumn (August or September) then the colony will usually take the fondant down and store it in the same way as they would sugar syrup; if put on later, then it is often left on the excluder and consumed as required.

Is fondant better for bees than sugar?

Fondant is used as energy for the bees and doesn’t bung up the brood nest. Fondant is taken when the chill in a syrup feeder makes it unacceptable to bees.

Can you feed bees fondant?

Typically fondant is used as a winter feed (sometimes termed ’emergency feed’) but can also be used in the fall, in fact at any time of year. It is also a useful food source (carbohydrate) for nucs and is very often used in mini-mating nucs for a number of reasons.

Can you feed bees fondant in summer?

Bees only directly use fondant when fed in the winter months (when they are clustered, basically). At other times they may store it. Particularly autumn feeds of fondant are stored. A large lump of fondant will be very rapidly covered in bees if left outside in the summer near hives (at least while it is moist).

Do beekeepers feed bees fondant?

Beekeepers have been cooking syrup and making fondant for generations, yet this toxicity only became apparent relativity recently. Feeding cooked syrup will not kill a colony, but researchers have found that HMF may shorten the lifespan of some bees in the colony, depending on how much HMF they’ve eaten.

When should I feed my bees fondant?

The knack of feeding fondant to the bees is to try and keep it in this state so they can get to it and feed throughout the cold months ahead. Whilst the weather is warm during the day they will take it down and store it in the combs around where the bees will huddle in their winter cluster.

How much fondant do I need for one hive?

If the colony has little or no frames of food then give them a block of candy or fondant. You want to aim for about 2.5 kg per hive and although this may seem to be a great expense, it is far less than the money you will have wasted should the bees die. In the winter the bees may need 12.5Kg of fondant.