Honeybee Food Co - Bee Fondant
Introducing Honeybee Food Co.'s Apis Meliffera Fondant – the ultimate solution for nourishing your bees with ease and efficiency. Unlike traditional sugar syrup, our bee fondant is meticulously crafted to be readily digestible upon consumption, providing your bees with instant sustenance without the need for extensive processing.
Feeding Bee Fondant V's Sugar Syrup
Choosing the right feeding option for your bees can be simplified as follows:
- Sugar syrup mimics nectar flow- Fondant mimics capped honey Sugar syrup is particularly useful in warm, dry weather. It simulates nectar flow, which helps hydrate the colony and stimulate brood growth. However, converting syrup into a consumable form is labor-intensive for bees. They must collect nectar, store it in their honey crop, undergo enzymatic conversion in their honey stomach, and then dehydrate it in honeycomb cells before it becomes honey.
In contrast, Honeybee Food Co.'s bee fondant streamlines this process. Our fondant is designed to replicate the nutritional profile of fully capped honey, offering a convenient and efficient feeding solution. Bees can easily consume the fondant directly, similar to how they would eat honey, without needing to dehydrate large amounts of water.
This ease of use makes our Apis Mellifera Fondant perfect for winter feeding and early spring, providing essential nutrients to your bees. With Honeybee Food Co.'s bee fondant, you can ensure the well-being and vitality of your hive with unparalleled convenience and effectiveness.
- Sugar syrup mimics nectar flow- Fondant mimics capped honey Sugar syrup is particularly useful in warm, dry weather. It simulates nectar flow, which helps hydrate the colony and stimulate brood growth. However, converting syrup into a consumable form is labor-intensive for bees. They must collect nectar, store it in their honey crop, undergo enzymatic conversion in their honey stomach, and then dehydrate it in honeycomb cells before it becomes honey.
In contrast, Honeybee Food Co.'s bee fondant streamlines this process. Our fondant is designed to replicate the nutritional profile of fully capped honey, offering a convenient and efficient feeding solution. Bees can easily consume the fondant directly, similar to how they would eat honey, without needing to dehydrate large amounts of water.
This ease of use makes our Apis Mellifera Fondant perfect for winter feeding and early spring, providing essential nutrients to your bees. With Honeybee Food Co.'s bee fondant, you can ensure the well-being and vitality of your hive with unparalleled convenience and effectiveness.
YOU NEED BEE FOOD THAT.. | FONDANT | SUGAR SYRUP |
Mimics capped honey | YES | NO |
Mimics a nectar flow | NO | YES |
Provides intantly available food in the event honey supers are removed for Varroa mite treatment | YES | NO |
Doesn't introduce additional moisture to the hive because it's been raining or is too cold. Less moisture mitigates mould build up | YES | NO |
Is easy to feed, no mess and less time consuming | YES | NO |
Helps hydrate the colony in warm and dry weather | NO | YES |
Is easy for my bees to digest - and they don't have to remove moisture from the feed before eating. | YES | NO |
Helps a weak colony conserve energy and emerge from winter stronger | YES | NO |
Heading
Winter bee feeding with fondant..
- Quick and efficient
- Low mess = less robbing
- Concern that the prolonged cold, wet winter could cause sugar syrup to ferment in the bees' gut, potentially leading to Nosema.
- Concern that feeding syrup late in winter could introduce additional moisture to the hive, possibly resulting in mold growth.
- Require a stable bee food that won't go moldy and can last all winter if not consumed immediately.
- Need a bee food that won't attract pests such as small hive beetles or wasps.
- Seeking ways to help a weak colony conserve energy and emerge from winter stronger.
- Limited budget for specialist feeding equipment.
Introducing bee fondant
A premium, easily digestible food for honeybees containing 85%-90% sugar and 10%-15% water. The ultra smooth consistency provides easily digestible, essential nutrients in the absence of honey or lack of honey in a beehive.
This product is ideal for supporting: > winter feeding, > early spring growth > bridging gaps between honey flows. > support the formation of new bee colonies. It’s easy to transport, easy to store, keeps well and is ready to use. Takes minutes (or less) to add to a hive. Needs no specialised feeders.
Made in Australia using 100% Australian cane sugar, water and citric acid.
Fondant is stable
Fondant is just sugar, so won't go mouldy. Water/syrup can form in the bag from time to time. If this happens, just open the bag from the other side or when closer to spring place bag face up and allow the bees to drink the syrup as they reach it.
If not consumed, just wrap fondant up in plastic to protect it from the air (keeping the freshness in) and feed again at a later date.
Sugar has an indefinite shelf life because it does not support microbial growth. Hence sugars have a best-if-used by date of approximately 2 years for quality concerns. This is due to lumpiness or hardening in granulated sugars and crystallization of sugars in honey and syrup. It is still safe to use even when lumpy or crystals are present. Although there is no expiry date for Honeybee Food Co fondant, the best before date is 12 months from creation.
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How to feed fondant to Honeybee directions:
Cut a small "V", as per the guidelines on the packaging,
in the centre of the bag. Tuck flap to create a small opening.
Note: The smaller the opening, the less air can reach
the fondant and dry it out before the bees have
a chance to consume it.
For winter feeding, place opening face down on top of your
brood frames, to mitigate honey blindness.
Making the food easily accessible.
For warmer weather feeding, place opening face up.
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How much fondant do bees need?
Simply answered, it depends on the colonies population and strength, stored honey and access to
external resources such as nectar.
If your are wintering down with minimal honey stores, you will need to consider several bags throughout winter.
If your are wintering down with minimal honey stores, you will need to consider several bags throughout winter.