# How to feed fondant or bee candy in TBHs?



## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

That's something I have been thinking about. Would it be possible to just push it under the combs as far as you can? I have never tried this and couldn't really tell you if it would work or not. It may not be warm enough under the cluster for bees to get there to eat. I have also been thinking of some sort of vented hole. Lang users have top vents so why can't we have a top vent? Just make a top bar with a couple of small holes in it and slap the largest piece of fondant you can over the top of it. If you did both you would have the best chances at survival I would think. But again I have not tried this as it's my first year. I did plop a large piece of fondant on the bottom of the hive earlier this fall once I decided to halt syrup feeding, but I also believe that they have enough stores and just did the fondant because I am paranoid.


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## VeggieGardener (Oct 4, 2011)

I modified a follower board by attaching a pair of 1x3 strips of wood along the two sides of the follower to form an open box. Then I stapled a piece of hardware cloth across the open side facing the interior of the hive. It works similarly to your suet feeder but this holds at least 15 pounds of fondant. An empty top bar or two snugs up to the top of the follower and I should be able to refill if needed by removing these bars and dropping in more fondant. There is a window on my top bar hive that I can use to view when the fondant feeder is running low.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

I just watched a video on the vimeo website dealing with this exact situation:
http://vimeo.com/9646655

Also on the site was the excellent Michael Palmer sustainable apiary talk.


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## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

Thanks, that vimeo video was what I was referring to about troweling in fondant-- It's a marginal first-year hive so I have no spare comb to do it with, and my fondant never comes out spreadable in any case. And I need a refill mechanism. I may try reworking a spare follower board to improve the suet feeder idea. The problem is that they won't get there until everything is gone, and maybe not even then-- I'm afraid there will be reluctance to move horizontally onto the cold end feeder, even if the cluster is near it. I assume sugar feeding in vertical hives works well in part because the food is above-- warmed and softened by the cluster, and they rise naturally in any case. 

I'm gong to take advantage of the last warmish day or two and try spreading out a few bars 3/8" to make some gaps between every 2 or 3 bars, place a 3/4" high wood frame over the bars to make a chamber above the bars and below the cover, and put fondant in it above the spread bars so they can come up between the bars and eat all winter. If I was doing it over I'd design top bars with closeable gaps for this purpose, similar to how some people put gaps for Warre-style quilts. Too late now.


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## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

To tie my own thread off, I tried the idea I described in the last post, and it seems to work for now. I also put in spacers on the bar ends so the gaps didn't open to the outside, just up into the closed feeding area. They won't touch the fondant at the end of the comb row, but are coming up through the gaps in the bars and gobbling up the stuff above the bars. It's staying quite warm up there so close to the active comb area, so I'd guess they can get to it when the weather gets very cold. The space can only hold about 4-5 lbs of candy, so it'll depend on whether I can keep it stocked in the dead of winter. A clear plastic sheet over the feeding frame to check it without opening would be handy. I assume the bees won't care about the additional space between combs until spring, when I'll either push them back together or (more likely) try to move the colony. I would not recommend this in colder late winter weather, as they had attached most of the newer comb on the sides in the last month or two since I last inspected it, and it required an open hive for a good half-hour as I cut the cold, brittle comb loose and set up the gaps and end plugs.

I also discovered why my fondant was too hard to use Chandler's method of smearing it into empty comb-- I pour hot fondant into pans and let it cool into hard slabs, but if I continue to work it in a bowl as it cools it'll stay fairly soft.


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