Molasses for feed

[Dave86]

Just having some issues with my hives on the southern side of Toowoomba and have had to start feeding them.

I have been feeding them 50/50 sugar and water,  but I have 30kgs of molasses in the shed.

I'm just wondering if I watered this down to the same rate as above would molasses syrup be a suitable feed for the bees???

I have 7 hives and they are going through about 4l of syrup a day and my wife is getting a bit testy at me loading up the trolley with sugar when we go shopping.

Regards

Dave

[yantabulla]

No.  You will kill your bees

[Rmcpb]

In a word. No!!

[Dave86]

Ok thanks

no harm in asking, ill just tell the wife I need to keep buying sugar.

[jayj200]

do not cook the sugar water either!

[troyin17331]

i have used it at about 2 cups to five gallon of sugar syrup with no problems. it is said that molasses  had to many solids that the bees can not utilize, i do not know anyone that has tried to use it.  it may be one of those things that has been repeated so many times over the years that it is just taken as fact. the only way to really know is to take a hive and try it, but that is something for someone to try that has enough hives that the loss of one or two wil not make any difference. there was a feed store near a place that i lived that had an old storrage tank of molassas they did not used anymore they told me that eventually the bees cleaned it out. 

"do not cook the sugar water either!" how are you supposed to get the sugar to dissolve if you don.t heat it. again this is something i do and have not seen any negative effects on the bees.

[jayj200]

heat the water first and then pour onto the sugar mix and stir let set stir again if needed. then feed
cookin boiling changes the sugar and will harm the bees

[don2]

I do not heat at all. just put 1 to 1  or 2 to 1 in a container and stir. depending on how much you are mixing will determine how much stirring it takes. d2

[nella]

I take a plastic 5 gallon bucket and put the hottest tap water in it, then add sugar while stirring until sugar starts to settle on the bottom, let cool if necessary and pour the sugar water into the feeder and feed that to the bees, mix the next batch for the next feeding. Very simiple.

[Chiefman]

heat the water first and then pour onto the sugar mix and stir let set stir again if needed. then feed
cookin boiling changes the sugar and will harm the bees

What about when you make fondant? you need to cook that dont you ?
Where did you read that boiling syrup harms the bees ? I know it changes the sugar structure but how is this harmful ?

[Richard M]

We fed our bees all last winter, started with a pair of nucs with Italians in Jan, which was too late really. I couldn't do a mix without boiling it due to recrystallising problems as soon as we had a cool evening; whereas boiling seems to result in a stable solution.

No problems with bees when they were fed on it for the whole winter.

I think it's if you let it get too hot so it burns/caramelises to the pan (brown) you have to watch out for, but as long as you're careful, it's not a drama.

I tried it first by just adding boiled water to sugar in a bucket - it dissolved to begin with but just crystallised into a sludge on the first cool night we had and blocked the entrance feeder we were using. I now feed using a big ice cream container in an empty super under the lid, with a raft of coreflute carefully cut to fit the bottom of the container floating in it, half a dozen drillhoes punched in the coreflute, worked great. No drownings. (Well 1 or 2 but hardly any.)