Kandy for bees: proportions and DIY recipes at home | Beekeeping 2024
Kandy for feeding bees is considered an effective tool that has a pasty consistency. It is made independently or bought, after which it is used at certain points in the life of insects. Beekeepers know many options for preparing candy, each of which has its own characteristics. This allows each beekeeper to choose the best recipe.
What is Kandy
Kandy is a special pasty food for bees. It is made from honey, powdered sugar and additional additives. By its texture, the mass is a solid substance, therefore it can be easily placed on the bottom of the hive or on the frames.
The substance is used by beekeepers as a winter top dressing. It is also used to build families in autumn and spring. For treatment and prevention, medications and special components are added to the composition - for example, pollen.
This kind of food was first made many years ago. His recipe was developed by the German Scholz. Therefore, in Europe, this variety is still called by his name. Today, there are many more types of this top dressing. For example, for queens, it is best to use the variety of I. R. Hood. However, it is considered quite soft, therefore it is not very suitable for winter. In Russia, the most commonly used candy is based on powdered sugar and honey.
Product varieties
Kandy for bees has 2 main types. The first variety is made using powdered sugar and honey. This top dressing is a real delicacy. However, experts advise against using honey for safety reasons.
The second type of candy is made from inverted sugar and powdered sugar.
The taste of this dressing is almost as good as the first variety, but it brings much more benefits.
Useful properties
This type of top dressing is characterized by the following useful properties:
- The substance does not induce the family to brood. It only slightly increases the activity of the bees.
- The procedure for applying nutrients is considered simple and does not cause difficulties. Kandi is placed at the bottom of the hive, while sugar syrup can spill over the hive, polluting the bees.
- Feeding helps to activate the power of insects. In spring and autumn, it encourages insects to work after a long rest in winter and a long work in summer.
When to give?
The most important is top dressing, which is performed in the spring. It affects the offspring and the amount of honey. The nutritional composition is applied after the spring flight, which takes place for the first time. First you need to make sure the well-being of the uterus. Finish top dressing in late spring.
Sometimes beekeepers feed bees during the winter. This is recommended when food supplies are depleted. Sometimes this procedure is carried out purposefully to saturate the uterus with nutrients. To do this, it is recommended to use a high-quality composition prepared in accordance with all technologies.
Feeding in autumn is carried out after the last honey harvest. Candy application times may vary by region.
Usually, the procedure starts in the second half of August, and ends in early September. Late introduction of nutrients is a danger to insects. In this case, there is a risk of death of young bees during the processing of syrup.
Cooking recipe
Today there are quite a lot of candy recipes. This allows each beekeeper to choose the right option.
With flour
Flour can be used to make kandy. It is best to use soy flour as it contains a lot of protein. This component must be gradually mixed with water, strictly observing the proportions. For 3 parts of sugar, you need to take 1 part of flour.
With milk powder
To make candy with your own hands, it is recommended to take the following products:
- 3 kilos of honey;
- 10 kilos of powdered sugar;
- 1 kilogram of milk powder;
- some water.
Honey should melt slightly, after which it needs to be mixed with powder. The next step is to add water and milk powder. From these ingredients, you need to knead the dough, wrap it in cloth or gauze and put it in the refrigerator for a day.
Sweet fudge
To make sweet fudge at home, you need to take the following:
- 1 liter of water;
- 2 kilos of sugar.
First, you need to heat the water to 60 degrees, then add sugar to it. Boil the syrup for 20 minutes. To check its readiness, you should lower the spoon into a container with syrup, and then into cool water. If at the same time a ball appears, you can talk about the readiness of the fudge.
Syrup needs to be poured onto wax paper. When the mass hardens, it is recommended to cut it into small squares. The finished product resembles 0.5 cm thick amber tiles.
With honey
To make kandy, you can use the classic recipe. It includes the following components:
- 73.8% powdered sugar;
- 26% liquid honey;
- 0.18% water;
- 0.02% vinegar.
To begin with, honey must be placed in an enamel bowl, add water and heat to 55 degrees. Then the mass needs to be cooled to 40 degrees. Then you can add powdered sugar and vinegar. All components must be mixed to obtain the consistency of the dough. It takes half an hour to knead it. Then the composition is recommended to be divided into convenient fragments and used for its intended purpose.
Kandi Komarova
To make this type of candy, you need to take sugar and honey in a ratio of 2.5:1. The components must be mixed and heated to 40 degrees. Then cool and knead a thick dough.
From nosematosis
To cope with the pathology or prevent its occurrence, it is recommended to add thymol or wormwood tincture to the candy.It is important to adhere to proportions. So, for 10 kilograms of top dressing, 3 grams of thymol are used. Also, for 1 kilogram of candy, you can use 1 tablespoon of wormwood tincture. In addition, it is permissible to use special preparations - "Nosemacid" or "Nozemat".
Feeding rules
Kandy can be placed in the hive directly on the frame. It is always warm in the upper part of the bee house. Because the cake will not freeze. In addition, it will be accessible from any streets below and from the side. There are 3 main materials that candies are wrapped in before being given to bees:
- polybag with small holes;
- parchment - you also need to make holes in it;
- multilayer gauze.
For one bee family, 3-5 kilograms of kandy will be enough for the winter. In the case of preparing a large amount of the substance, it must be stored in the refrigerator. Before laying in the hive, the composition must be heated to at least room temperature.
For medicinal purposes, bees need to be fed with honey and powdered sugar. In this case, the dosage should be 1.5-2 times less. To avoid crystallization of top dressing, there should be a positive temperature in the wintering house.
Bee candy is a popular feeding option often given to bees. In order for the substance to give the desired effect, it is important to choose a good recipe and strictly adhere to the preparation technology of the product.
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