Keeping your bees happy and healthy is an essential part of beekeeping! That means constantly monitoring whether they have sufficient resources available to do their busy work.
While it is well known that bees are foragers and so often it is not necessary to provide bees with extra food, sometimes beekeepers do need to give their colony a helping hand! Candy boards for bees is one way that beekeepers can ensure that their colony has ample food reserves available to them and which helps the bees survive during cold winters.
In this article, we will discuss more about candy boards including their purpose, when they should be used, how they are made and how to make your own!
What is the Purpose of a “Candy board” in Beekeeping?
The purpose of the candy board for beekeeping is to provide emergency winter feeding for bees. It is important to note that in an everyday, healthy hive with a sufficient store of honey, this kind of device is not necessary for feeding.
This is because bees are supposed to consume honey and NOT refined sugar (which the candy board supplies). Therefore, is best to avoid the candy board for beekeeping if possible.
However, sometimes bees do not have the necessary amount of food and secondary and more artificial sources of food are required. In a previous article we discussed different types of feeders that can be installed on or in a hive to provide the bees with this food. Much like these artificial feeders, candy boards provide bees with emergency food.
When Should Candy Boards Be Used?
The candy board is predominantly used in winter months. They are used, for example, when the colony is small and newly installed and therefore hasn’t had time to produce enough honey.
Alternatively, the environment and food resources could have suffered during the summer due to uncontrollably dry or unfruitful periods and there was not enough nectar for the bees to produce sufficient honey.
Or even perhaps, you started your colony later in the season and they did not have adequate time to prepare for winter. Whatever the cause, the candy board then becomes a beekeeper’s saving grace – helping their bees to get through winter despite these factors.
Although previous factors considered, we can note that usually bees will have stored at least some honey which means that even if a candy board is needed, it will in most cases only be needed towards the end of the winter season.
Ultimately, when a candy board is used should be determined by evaluating the condition of the colony and hive.
A helpful tip to know whether a candy board is necessary is to lift the back of your hive – not to open it. If the back of the hive is quite heavy, then you likely do not need the extra supply of food.
How are Candy Boards Made?
Candy boards, as the name implies, are made of sugar. The sugar needs to be boiled, at the very least, to about 120°C/248°F (this is known as the “firm ball stage” in cooking). The preferred and most successful candy boards are instead boiled to 130°C/266°F (this is known as the hard ball stage).
Some commercially prepared candy boards are incorrectly cooked to only 116°C/240°F (this is known as the soft ball stage). The temperature differences may seem miniscule, but candy boards only cooked to the soft ball stage will likely behave like a dense liquid and will easily move about.
This can lead to the many complaints often heard about commercially produced candy boards. For instance, the candy migrates and oozes out while being shipped; the candy liquifies and drips down in the hive to where it is out of reach of the bees; or the candy easily breaks out of the lid and lands on the top bars of the hive.
The reason that these problems are often seen is because when the candy board is placed on the hive, the moisture created by the bees’ respiration (or any form of constant heat or moisture) will melt and liquefy the candy in the board, causing the candy to become displaced.
Furthermore, candy board is expensive to ship because it can weigh quite a lot, despite the ingredients being simple sugar and water.
To avoid these problems, it is necessary to correctly prepare the candy! Or better yet, to make the candy board yourself!
Making Your Own Candy Board for Beekeeping
Caution: always be extremely careful when working with boiling sugar!
Making candy boards at home is not all that complicated. You can find countless recipes for how to make sugar candy at home and can easily prepare a makeshift candy board with the proper tools.
There are numerous resources available online to help guide you through the candy board making process. Although, the production methods to make these candy boards can differ widely in terms of ingredients and construction.
The most popular types of candy boards, however, are made by simply boiling sugar and water until they become candy. This method can be dangerous though because over-heating sugar can create harmful compounds (HMF- hydroxymethylfurfural) which are very dangerous for bees. Plus, we need to remember the danger that comes with handling hot sugar!
But if you are not so confident in your cooking abilities, fret not! Many website provide no-cook recipes, such as the recipe by Carolina Honeybees in their article titled “DIY No-Cook Candy Board for Bees” which we advise you check out for a super detailed breakdown of all things candy board related!
Carolina Honeybee’s recipe uses granular cane sugar, water, pollen substitute and a form to create a candy board that requires not heat! The downside to the no-cook recipes is that they take much longer to make (in this recipe, the time needed is quoted as 2 days and 1 hour). But the no cook method is a good way to save money from buying a candy board AND a good way for someone not so confident in the kitchen to avoid getting seriously injured!
To Summarise…
Candy boards for beekeeping are essential tools in helping bees who were not able to store enough food for the winter! While they should not be used year-round, they can be used to provide momentary aid to your bees.
Consider making your own candy boards to save money by looking up some easy recipes online. Remember that you should always be super cautious around boiling hot sugar due to the massive risk of injury if you get this on your skin! There is no shame in making a no-cook candy board for your bees.
Check out the article we linked from Carolina Honeybees for a great no-cook recipe – and happy beekeeping!
