Not sure where to post this question. There's been a lot of discussion about what concentration of syrup to use to evoke certain bee behaviors, for example, this from robo's web site:
* 1:2 is 1 pound of sugar dissolved in 2 pints of water. This is a Spring mixture used to stimulate the queen to start laying.
* 1:1 is 1 pound of sugar dissolved in 1 pint of water. This is a mixture used to encourage comb building.
* 2:1 is 2 pounds of sugar dissolved in 1 pint of water. This is a Fall mixture used to make winter stores.
MB simply states, "I always use 2:1." Someone said, "2:1 is treated like nectar" (processed and stored).
My question is why do different concentrations produce different results? My assumption has been that any concentration of syrup would be temporarily stored in the honey stomach and processed into a digestible form. If the syrup is thick, fewer trips to the feeder, less processing and drying is required; if it is thin, more trips to the feeder, more processing and drying. So why the different results in the hive?
Is the 1:1 or 1.5:1 treated as "food" for the immediate which gives the bees energy to work and make comb? That's what I thought. I started 1:1 yesterday and my bees are acting like they are on Red Bull. They're going crazy compared to 2-3 days ago.
lets see......1:1.....I use a double one quart feeder in late winter/early spring for a nectar substitute to get the bees started. The reason to use 2:1 or more in the fall is to get your hive up to weight, with less time/energy expanded by the bees to lower the water content for food storage.
John
I'm new at this too eri, but my assumption would be that all three of the behaviors you referred to (queen starts laying / bees make comb / storing for the winter) are things that naturally happen at different times of the year when and if the bees detect an adequate supply of nectar, or a surplus. In other words, by making lots of nectar analog readily and easily available, you're creating the impression among the hive that food is now plentiful, and so they will (depending on the time of year) start laying, building comb, or storing.
My assumption (there's that word again) is that the reason for the different sugar/water ratios specified has more to do with the beekeeper's perception of how difficult each task will prove to be, rather than what's needed to trigger a specific behavior pattern.
1-1 is more like nectar 2-1 is more like honey -while they are processing nectar there bodies react differently -it is not so much there choices-natures balance of sugars and water trigger this reaction -thicker and heavier take longer for there bodies to process so they are doing things slower-there metabolisms are not running at the speed that they run when the thiner mixes of sugar and water are being metabolized -we use thin and thick to make them shift gears -running faster they start making wax they cant help it -start making royal jelly - and that is food for brood so queen lays more eggs -thicker they slow down and syrup is thick like honey they start to store it -thats why we mix any meds into thick syrup -it is used for food and is not readily depleted -thin syrup is like turning on a switch -like when a swarm starts to draw wax the cant stop -and we can use these effects to our advantage if we apply them at the right time for the colony to prosper -RDY-B
The first place I read about when and why was in George Imeries Pink Pages. Here's a couple links.
http://pxbacher.home.comcast.net/~pxbacher/PinkPages/2002_Jan_-_Reversing_Brood_Chambers.html
http://pxbacher.home.comcast.net/~pxbacher/PinkPages/index.html
I do pick and choose what info I use so this is a resource that I have referred back to from time to time to time.. to time...