# What ratio of sugar water do I feed these bees?



## mthammer11 (Jun 3, 2010)

I never post on here, because my husband is the beekeeper. But, he is out of town at a national conference for work and is very busy, so 
trying to figure this out myself. We had a neighbor a street over call and ask if we could set out some feeders for our bees, since his hummer feeders are being bombarded by bees (presumably ours). So, I found our cypress feeders and need to mix up some sugar water. We live in
Memphis, TN, so it's still fairly warm here, and our honey has not yet been harvested for the year. What ratio do you suggest I make up?

Ashleigh in Memphis


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## beedeetee (Nov 27, 2004)

You never want to put a feeder on when honey supers are on your hive.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

You may want to buy your niebor a new hummingbird feeder. A good feeder will not allow the bees to get the sugar water. If they can't get it they will leave it alone. Most people feed 2/1 in the fall if the hive needs more for winter. But, if they don't need it or your husband has supers on he may not want them fed. So it may be best to wait until you can find out for sure before you let them feed the bees.


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

My bees have stuck to my patio fountain for water even though there's water twenty feet from there hives. They try to get the humming bird nectar but can't reach it so a new feeder sounds like a good idea.


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## the kid (Nov 26, 2006)

If you feed syrup with honey supers on ,, the girls will fill the super with sugar syrup , and that will not taste good , so wait til the supers are off ..
I don't bother to put water out .. the girls go were they want , I have a yard full of fruit trees ,, out of 6 years I've had the girls on my trees one spring , first year I had bees I put out water , not one bee was seen taking water ...


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

It must be common for the girls to ignore our offerings. I planted buckwheat but I think it was neighboring bees that worked it because his honey was darker than ours. They a truly amazing and I love them even when they bite the hand that feeds them. You might want to take your honey before the goldenrod comes in. I have heard of people doing such in my neck of the woods.


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## mthammer11 (Jun 3, 2010)

Thanks for the advice. I may call our neighbor back and ask about his hummer feeders. (I wasn't going to put feeders on the hive - he had 
just asked if I could feed them so they wouldn't bother him). We do have supers on. As far as the 2/1 ratio, sorry for the question, but do youmean 2 c water to 1 c sugar? (However, I think now that I've read your advice, I'll skip trying to feed them at all). Thanks!


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I'm sorry should of explained better. 2cups sugar 1 cup water. This is so the bees don't have such a hard time drying the syrup down for winter. Spring feed is 1 to 1 as this is closer to the natural netar for spring build up. Waiting would prob be a good idea. I feed the hummingbirds also and have never had a prob as long as the feeder does not leak.


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## ArkansasBK (Mar 5, 2011)

johng said:


> I feed the hummingbirds also and have never had a prob as long as the feeder does not leak.


Correct. I had to buy 2 new hummingbird feeders this year for that reason. New feeders stopped it.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

johng said:


> I'm sorry should of explained better. 2cups sugar 1 cup water.


The exact ratio doesn't really matter, but it goes by weight, not volume. 1 cup of water and 1 cup of granulated sugar are not equal.

A 5 lb bag of sugar in a gallon bucket, topped off with water is about right.


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## Beev (Jul 16, 2011)

The way I learned to do sugar syrup was by the rhyme "A pint's a pound the world around" . In other words, one pound of sugar to one pint of water for 1:1 or two pounds of sugar to one pint of water for 2:1.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Beev said:


> The way I learned to do sugar syrup was by the rhyme "A pint's a pound the world around" . In other words, one pound of sugar to one pint of water for 1:1 or two pounds of sugar to one pint of water for 2:1.


But a pt of honey weighs 1.5lbs, so there goes that theory  1 pint of water is actually 0.96 lb. so you would be a hair under 2.1

If you want to be exact; in chemistry the max amount of sugar that can be dissolved in water is 1800 gms/1 liter.


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## Beev (Jul 16, 2011)

bluegrass said:


> But a pt of honey weighs 1.5lbs, so there goes that theory  1 pint of water is actually 0.96 lb. so you would be a hair under 2.1
> 
> If you want to be exact; in chemistry the max amount of sugar that can be dissolved in water is 1800 gms/1 liter.


I stand corrected.


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## hemichuck (Oct 27, 2009)

Bluegrass,your overthinking this thing. What a pint of honey weighs has little to do with sugar water. I heard the pint is a pound from M Bush and have used it ever since and that will get you about as close as you need to be. 1 gallon of water(16 pts) to 16 lbs of sugar is 1-1.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Not over thinking it at all, I stated in post 10 that it didn't need to be exact.

I take a 1 gallon bucket available for about a 1.00 at any hardware store, dump a 5 lb bag of sugar in it, top it off with water and snap the lid on, shake and dump in feeder of choice.... Done. No measuring lbs of sugar or pints of water. If you want a larger quantity put 10 lbs bag in a two gallon bucket or 25 lb bag in a 5 gallon bucket, the ratio ends up exactly the same.


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## hipbee (Sep 11, 2009)

Ok what if you don't have a scale and buy sugar by the barrel instead of by the pound,how much sugar will fit into a five gallon bucket. Or I guess the easiest way to figure it is what does a gallon jug full of just sugar weigh?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

A pint is a pound... is true for many things:
A pint of water weighs approximately a pound.
A pint of sugar weighs approximately a pound.
A pint of oil weighs approximately a pound.
A pint of ale weighs approximately a pound.

Not everything weighs a pound for a pint:
A pint of lead is far over a pound.
A pint of honey is a pound and half.
A pint of 2:1 syrup is a little under a pound and half.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm#weightorvolume


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

hipbee said:


> Ok what if you don't have a scale and buy sugar by the barrel instead of by the pound,how much sugar will fit into a five gallon bucket. Or I guess the easiest way to figure it is what does a gallon jug full of just sugar weigh?


On my scale a gallon jug of granulated sugar weighs 4.1 lbs, A gallon jug of water is 8.3 lbs.


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

mthammer11 said:


> I never post on here, because my husband is the beekeeper. But, he is out of town at a national conference for work and is very busy, so
> trying to figure this out myself. We had a neighbor a street over call and ask if we could set out some feeders for our bees, since his hummer feeders are being bombarded by bees (presumably ours). So, I found our cypress feeders and need to mix up some sugar water. We live in
> Memphis, TN, so it's still fairly warm here, and our honey has not yet been harvested for the year. What ratio do you suggest I make up?
> 
> Ashleigh in Memphis


 I t happened to me.https://picasaweb.google.com/113400947700542391177/September172011?authuser=0&feat=directlink


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## Rusty67 (Mar 9, 2010)

2:1 syrup is a human idea, not a bee idea. Bees don't have rules about sugar syrup. The 2:1 ratio is a useful guideline for us, but the bees don't actually care. Remember that every single nectar source the bees collect from has a slightly different ratio of sugar to water. The bees deal with it. They are the experts. Whether you use weight or volume or a combination doesn't matter: http://www.honeybeesuite.com/sugar-syrup-measurement-weight-or-volume/


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

No matter what ratio you mix and feed your bees, some will still forage. If they can get to the syrup in your neighbor's hummingbird feeder, they will continue to go to it. As suggested earlier, the only solution to the problem is on the hummingbird feeder end.


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## ShaneVBS (Aug 22, 2011)

ive been going by 1lb of water to 2lbs of sugar for 2.1


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