I'm planning to make a big batch of syrup using the 1:1 ratio. I've read about adding a crushed vitamin C tablet and I want to do that, but how much for one gallon of syrup?
Thanks,
LizzieBee
Note: should be 25 lb cane syrup and not 12.5
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=44468.msg432658#msg432658
I use 3kg sugar to make about 5 litres of syrup, it is 1:1. To this I add 1/4 tsp of citric acid that you can buy from the supermarket.
Almost impossible for anyone to tell you the correct amount. It will depend on the pH of the water you start with.
You need to get some pH testing strips, or a pH tester. The strips are cheap and you can find them on amazon that is what I use.
The pH of your syrup should be between 3.2 and 4.5 (source http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm)
Thanks!
-LizzieBee
If you are adding the vitamin to invert the syrup, you are wasting your time because the bees automatically do that when they take the syrup into their crop.
You'll have better luck getting it to dissolve if you buy Ascorbic acid powder. Add the powder to the water and then add the sugar. I would NEVER make 1:1 syurp. It doesn't keep well and serves no purpose that 2:1 or 5:3 won't. Since my water has so much lime in it, I can't get 2:1 to dissolve so I make 5:3. It will keep MUCH longer with the Ascorbic acid in it. You will upset the microbes in the gut less (if you get it about 4.5ph or so) and Ascorbic acid is good for bees.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24477034
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3896/IBRA.1.51.3.07