Sugar syrup

[OPAVP]

Hi guys,

I made syrup the other day.

1 kg.sugar and 2liter water.

Which is in your lingo: 2.2 lbs sugar and appr.8 quarts water.

I thought I did it the way I did it last year. I poured sugar in canning kettle,added the 2 liter HOT water and set on the stove untill it came to a boil.
Checked today and all mason jars have a layer of hard sugar on the inside of the lid with the holes. Should it not have boiled,or was it not boiled long enough?

Greetings from Alberta.

[Algonam]

Hey OPAVP,

Finally a question I can answer!
I've been told you don't boil the sugar and water together.
Just heat up the water, not to a boil, then add sugar and stir until it disolves. No boiling at all.

Apparently even really hot tap water works too, if you hot water tank is set high enough.

Cheers!...... from Lanark county, Ontario (West of Ottawa)

[Michael Bush]

1 kg of sugar to 2 liters of water is 1:2 very thin syrup.  1 kg of sugar to 1 liter of water is 1:1 thin syrup.  2 kg of sugar to 1 liter of water is 2:1 very thick syrup.  I would not expect 1:2 to crystalize.  I always boil the water and add the sugar, but I'm not making 1:2.  You should be able to do that with hot tap water.

[T Beek]

I made a mess on the stove just ONE time.  I've used hot water straight from the tap ever since :)

thomas

[Finski]

.
Syrup should be 2 kg sugar and 1 water. There is no reason to give water such way to bees.

[Hemlock]

I have found that thin syrup does not need boiling water (1:1 and lower).  warm tap water works fine.  i do boil water, remove it from heat, then add sugar when i make 2:1 syrup.

I guess to make a liter of 1:1 (light) syrup you need 0.61 kg of sugar added to 0.62 liters of water.
To make a liter of 2:1 (heavy) syrup you need to mix 0.85 kg to 0.46 liters of water.

Here's a great website (LINK) that has a bunch of conversions for beekeepers. 

[FRAMEshift]

I never bring sugar in the house.  It's just asking for a mess.   Boil 1.8 gallons of water.  Carry the water outside and pour in a 5 gallon bucket.  Pour in 25 lbs of sugar.  Stir for about 30 seconds.  This gives 3.5 gallons of 5:3 ratio and goes into solution easily and keeps the volume the bees have to handle to a minimum.  If you go thicker than 5:3 you will find that it gets harder to get the sugar into solution.

[Finski]

To make a liter of 2:1 (heavy) syrup you need to mix 0.85 kg to 0.46 liters of water.

I think that original advice was 2 pound sugar and 1 pound water
0.85 kg makes no sense. = 1 kg package.

[OPAVP]

Thanks for all the replies.
My intention was to try and make the bees think it was early spring. And try to get a few new queens to raise a little brood yet. I also gave them some pollen pattties. In an insulated nuc.

Greetings from Alberta.

[yockey5]

Spring, summer, or fall, IF I feed I always fill a gallon jar with dry sugar then fill this jar with whatever hot water it will take. Stir til clear and serve. Candy and pollen substitute on bars in winter.