# Candy Board



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

just use straight granulated sugar. Mountaincamp had some really good posts on this. I used this method last year and it worked great.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Yep, the easy candy board is a pile of sugar, sprayed damp to hold it in place on top of newspaper. I think I'm going to just put a 10 pound bag in the hive this year, dampen it and slit it and see what happens.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I mentioned them because they are popular around here. Seems like some winters they chimney to the top and leave a lot of stores behind and the candy keeps them from starving. The way they are made here looks like a telescopic top except the same size as a box (they are often made from old boxes where the rabbets are rotten and they cut them to two or three inches tall). Then they put a piece of plywood on top (1/4" exterior luan or 3/8" exterior glue plywood). sometimes they put some long nails or screws through the sides so it will be embedded in the candy to keep the candy from falling. Then they make the candy and pour it into the upside down lid. The candy is fairly hard (probably soft crack) and is nothing but sugar and water. The lid then goes on top of the hive. Often they will wait to put it on until about January.

Personally, I'm too lazy to make the candy and too lazy to make the boards. It's easier to put a super on top with newspaper and sugar (ala Mountain Camp). This seems to work in the same manner. They bees work their way to the top and then start eating the sugar. I don't have to build anything special and I don't have to make candy. The only downside is the candy boards are easier to pull for a spring inspection. The sugar you have to take a chunk at a time and put the in a bucket (after smoking the bees out of it). The candy board you could remove and then replace for a while until there's some kind of flow. I just leave the sugar until somethings blooming.


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## JordanM (Jun 6, 2008)

How much sugar do you put ontop for the winter?

I have 3 brood boxes full of honey on my hives but want to be safe.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If they were fed well I was just giving them some insurance, I might just do 10 or 15 pounds. If the hives are light and I'm worried about it, I might top off the box.

As far as a picture of a candy board here are a couple on Mel Disselkoen's site:
http://www.mdasplitter.com/pics/articlePic4.JPG
http://www.mdasplitter.com/pics/articlePic1.JPG

in this article:
http://www.mdasplitter.com/article.htm


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