# Sugar Blocks;



## NDnewbeek (Jul 4, 2008)

10 lbs of sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar
4 cups of water

Bring water and vinegar to boil - add sugar

Heat (while stirring) to 245-250F (use a candy thermometer)

Remove from heat and stir until the mixture become opaque

Pour into molds (mine are 8"x4"x1") and let sit to harden.

I line the molds with foil so that the blocks are easy to remove.

The entire process takes me about an hour from start to finish. This recipe makes three 3.5lb blocks. I am interested to see how long they last.


----------



## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

Here is what I do...

Candy Bricks
Mix 4 lbs sugar with 2 cups of water and 1 tblspoon of apple cider vinegar. Bring to boil at around 220-238 degrees (soft ball). When boiling, stir continuously. Mixture will get milky and foam up, then will turn clear and foam will stop when it reaches the candy point. (If mixture turns brown, throw it out!) Remove from heat and stir in 1-2 cups pollen substitute and lemongrass oil (10 drops). Mix with blender until white and creamy. Pour into foil mold (meatloaf). Makes two large bricks. Caution -Burned sugar will kill bees!

Note: I am at 8000' so the temps are lower than at sea level.


----------



## tefer2 (Sep 13, 2009)

5lb. sugar
2 cups water
1 tbls cider vinegar
heat to 245
pour into clear plastic wrap, lined molds


----------



## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

Oh, forgot to add... get some wax paper - while you cooking it up and reach candy temp, dribble a few drops on the wax paper with your wooden spoon. Let it cool and harden (should take 30 seconds or so). You should be able to push against the drop and not get any sticky candy on your spoon or fingernail (if you are brave). It should make a dent and not be overly "sticky" like jelly.


----------



## Old Bear's Honey (Sep 28, 2011)

What does the vinegar do for it???


----------



## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

The vinegar raises the acidity to a level more like honey and helps invert the sugars.


----------



## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

If I wanted to mix in some HFCS how would the formula change?


----------



## Russ (Sep 9, 2001)

Thanks Guys. Dale


----------



## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

Eastside, this is a recipe I copied but never made the candy.

Bee Sugar Candy by Armand Provost
*For Overwintering Nucs and Winter/Spring feeding of your bee colonies
Makes about 14 8¾” pie plates
Equipment:
Large stock pot
Candy thermometer
Large spoon
15 pie tins or pans
Ingredients:
15 lbs sugar
3 bottles Karo syrup (original)
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
4 cups water
1-2 tablespoon of Honey B Healthy (optional, but recommended)
Method:
Add all ingredients (except for Honey B Healthy) into a large stock pot on stovetop.
Mix until all sugar is dissolved.
Turn on heat and mix constantly until temp reaches 233-234 degrees 
(just starting to boil and rise)
Remove from heat the moment it reaches 233-234 degrees (to keep from overhardening in tins)
Continue stirring to allow bottom of pot to cool a bit (to keep from caramelizing/burning sugars)
Place pot on cooling rack to allow solution to cool faster
Add Honey B Healthy to solution and stir in
Allow to cool to 180 degrees
Stir vigorously
Pour into containers at 180 degrees
Candy should be hardened and ready for use in 2-3 hours
I like to remove candy from pie tins and stack 3-4 with wax paper between them and place in Gallon sized zip lock bags for storage. Should be kept in the refrigerator, but I don’t bother. Honey-B-Healthy helps to prevent molding.


----------



## libhart (Apr 22, 2010)

ccarr2000, this sounds like a fondant recipe. A bit different beast than a sugar block.


----------



## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

Thanks for the clarification libhart. Does the hardness of the recipe depend upon more that the temperature you heat the syrup mix to? I thought that it comes down to more or less how much moisture you boil out of it?


----------



## libhart (Apr 22, 2010)

ccar2000 said:


> Does the hardness of the recipe depend upon more that the temperature you heat the syrup mix to? I thought that it comes down to more or less how much moisture you boil out of it?


You've described exactly the same things.  Water heats to 212 (well, at sea level anyway), that's all the hotter you can get it when you're boiling it out in the open in a pot. When you have a sugar syrup and you boil it, as the water evaporates and the sugar concentration gets higher, the boiling temperature goes up. So as more water leaves, the hotter the mixture gets. And you're dead on, the more water you drive from the mixture, the harder it will set up. There is a slight bit of science in your recipe though, and that's the corn syrup, which is pure glucose. The extra glucose keeps the sugar from recrystalizing like it otherwise would, so by letting it cool to 180 and then stirring, you get really tiny crystals, resulting in fondant. The higher heat (less water left) + no stirring + no added glucose in the sugar blocks sets them up pretty hard.


----------



## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

I included using a blender in my recipe to beat in pollen substitute. Otherwise it cakes up and makes a mess. Best done around 175 degrees. My sugar bricks are definitely hard candy. The bees love them.


----------



## Jon11 (Mar 29, 2011)

I did something very simple this year and it worked out quite well. I got a big pot of water, poured in some sugar and heated until it started to boil. Once it started boiling good I turned off the heat and added more sugar until I was satisfied with the thinkness and then poured it into a mold and let it sit there for a day to harden up. The mold's don't have to be anything fancy. In fact, a styrofoam picnic plate worked pretty well. But it you wanted something bigger just get a pan of some sort and put some wax paper in it to keep the sugar from sticking. This isn't by any means a candy board, it's not that hard. It will break apart if you hit it. But it holds together well enough to place on the top bars. You'll need some sort of a spacer to put on the hive. If you want to add honey-bee-healthy you can, but it isn't necessary. I checked to hives today and the bees had eaten a lot, but they still had a lot left and there were several bees working on it. It was simple and it worked. The main thing is when you pour it into the mold don't touch or move it to much for several hours so that it can harden.


----------



## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

I made an attempt to make sugar bricks, but I didn't have a cooking thermometer. I brought it to a boil and stirred until it was opaque, but my mixture did not set up. I am off to WallyWorld for a thermometer.


----------



## libhart (Apr 22, 2010)

Once the sugar is dissolved you actually don't want to stir it. just let it boil until it hits the right temp. then let it cool, not stirring, until it hits the 180 mark. then stir. this will make sure your crystals are tiny and you get that fondant texture. you can do this with a mixer too if you're careful. 180 degree sugar syrup is a double whammy...it burns and sticks.


----------



## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

libhart said:


> Once the sugar is dissolved you actually don't want to stir it. just let it boil until it hits the right temp. then let it cool, not stirring, until it hits the 180 mark. then stir. this will make sure your crystals are tiny and you get that fondant texture. you can do this with a mixer too if you're careful. 180 degree sugar syrup is a double whammy...it burns and sticks.


Libhart:

Is the candy hard or is it somewhat elastic, pliable. My candy is soft, but I think it would hold a bee on it. I am concerned about if it will melt on a hot day.


----------



## libhart (Apr 22, 2010)

Fondant made that way...cooked to mid-230s, cooled then stirred, will def. hold lots of bees, but it's not hard, it's sort of like moist fudge. On a hot day it'll get weepy and might ooze a little, but it'll still be basically solid.


----------



## mxr618 (Apr 23, 2008)

Haven't ever made a sugar block but would like to try...the question I have is where do you deploy them in the hive? Do I have to mold them thin and place between the boxes or do they go up on top of top box under the inner cover? 


Thanks for all your help.

Tom


----------



## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

I think that Sugar Frames look like the ideal way
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/emergency-feeding/

I am going to try it next winter!

View attachment 1248


----------



## NDnewbeek (Jul 4, 2008)

I have made these in the past - both for my langs and top bar hives:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/oHCd24aY2coVjgDgBOyhJ9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/WU0LH2mDNUf_bP77SXfM29MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

The idea seems really good - but I haven't had any luck with them. I don't know why - perhaps our winters are too cold to permit the bees to move to them (I usually put them in as the outside frames), or maybe I cook the sugar too hot and the bees don't like that?

Who knows?

I still have a couple from two years ago sitting in one of my boxes right now. You can see them on a video that I did. The cluster is all over the sugar brick that I laid on the top frames and hasn't touched the sugar frames.

Perhaps you will have better luck (Robo seems too) - I switched to bricks though because they didn't work for me.


----------



## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

I tried side and bottom fondant feeding in my TBH last fall, and gave up-- they simply wouldn't travel down or over some vacant comb. Syrup yes, fondant no. I assume it's that they're designed to move to get nectar(syrup), but honey(fondant) is accessed where the crowd is. If it isn't within immediate reach, it's just not considered. Inserting a candy bar (!) in a struggling TBH in the depths of cold winter is beyond my skills or confidence.


----------



## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

I mold mine in foil meat loaf trays and place them on the top bars inside an empty super.


----------



## mmiller (Jun 17, 2010)

gjd said:


> I tried side and bottom fondant feeding in my TBH last fall, and gave up-- they simply wouldn't travel down or over some vacant comb. Syrup yes, fondant no. I assume it's that they're designed to move to get nectar(syrup), but honey(fondant) is accessed where the crowd is. If it isn't within immediate reach, it's just not considered. Inserting a candy bar (!) in a struggling TBH in the depths of cold winter is beyond my skills or confidence.


I've used fondant in my tbh's with great success. You don't want to place it on the other side of vacant comb. It should be placed next to the last comb of honey. They take it readily (in my experience). Once it warms to point of them moving around in the hive it doesn't seem to matter where it's placed they seem to find it just fine. I only boil to 240 F. which keeps it from being rock hard. 

Mike


----------



## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

Mike, I think we're comparing uncomparables; I'm in zone 5. They can be clustered for weeks on end, last year it was probably 2 months straight. I can see end bar feeding working in theory (I certainly was expecting it to!), but like everything else with my TBH, it probably had to be done exactly right. My TBH has been very difficult to figure out and keep alive. It's over my skill level in my location, although they're still going. It is a great learning experience, if you like learning from adversity. Greg


----------

