Feeding Fondant and Candy

Bee candy (fondant, sugar paste, candy board) is a solid, almost water-free feed made from sugar; in cold weather, when bees cannot process syrup, it is an emergency energy source that the cluster can eat directly. This page explains when to give candy, how to prepare it and place it in the hive, and the most common mistakes.

What is bee candy, and how does it differ from syrup?

Candy is a dough-like feed made by kneading sugar crystals with a very small amount of water or syrup. Ready-made commercial candy is also called fondant. Its main difference from syrup is that the bees do not have to process and store it: the cluster eats the candy gradually.

• Syrup: It is liquid; the bees evaporate its water and store it in the comb. It is given in warm weather; it builds stores and stimulates brood rearing.
• Candy: It is solid and does not need processing. It is given in cold weather; it does not increase moisture in the hive and does not stimulate brood rearing as much as syrup.

Bees need a small amount of water to eat candy; in winter they get this water from condensation in the hive and from the moisture the candy absorbs from the air.

When should bees be given candy?

Candy is no substitute for building up enough honey or syrup stores in autumn. Used correctly, it is a safety net:

• Midwinter and late winter: If the hive feels light when hefted, or the cluster has moved up to the top bars, the stores are about to run out.
• Early spring: Consumption rises rapidly once brood rearing starts. If it is too cold to give syrup, candy is given.
• If you are late in autumn: If syrup can no longer be processed because the weather has turned cold, missing stores are supplemented with candy.
• During moving and transport: Candy is practical in situations where liquid feed might spill.

Types of candy

Ready-made bee candy (fondant)

Commercial fondants are usually made from a mixture of sucrose, glucose and fructose and are prepared specifically for bees. They have a consistent texture, keep for a long time without spoiling and are the easiest option to use. Packaged ones are placed directly on the top bars with the packaging opened on the underside.

Homemade candy from icing sugar

The most common homemade method is to knead icing (powdered) sugar with a small amount of liquid. The liquid can be thick sugar syrup, ready-made invert sugar syrup or only honey from healthy colonies in your own apiary. The traditional ratio is about 3–4 parts icing sugar to 1 part liquid by weight.

1. Put the icing sugar in a large, clean bowl. If possible, choose icing sugar without additives.
2. Knead while adding the liquid little by little. The dough should reach a consistency where it does not stick to the hands but does not crumble either.
3. If it is too soft, add icing sugar; if it is too dry, add a few drops of liquid.
4. Shape the dough into flat pieces of 1–2 kg and wrap them in plastic or cling film.
5. Store in a cool place; it is normal for it to harden slightly within a few days.

Consistency is the critical point: Candy that is too wet runs when it warms up, drips between the frames and can stick bees down. Candy that is too dry turns rock-hard and the bees struggle to eat it.

Cooked fondant

It is made by boiling sugar and water, cooking it to a certain temperature and crystallising it by stirring as it cools. It takes experience: if the sugar is overheated or caramelised, compounds harmful to bees form (especially HMF, hydroxymethylfurfural). Do not give bees fondant that has turned brown or smells burnt. That is why icing sugar paste or ready-made candy is safer for beginners.

Protein-enriched candy

Candies that provide both energy and protein are made by adding pollen or a pollen substitute to the candy. These are used not in midwinter but in late winter and early spring, when brood rearing starts. Details are on the Feeding Pollen page.

How do you give candy? Step by step

1. Find the cluster: When you lift the lid, the seams between frames where the bees are concentrated show where the cluster is. The candy should go directly above this point; candy placed away from the cluster cannot be used in the cold.
2. Put the candy on the top bars or over the hole in the inner cover: Open the side of the packaged candy facing the bees; leave the top side closed so the candy does not dry out.
3. Leave space: Candy placed on the top bars needs room between it and the lid. If necessary, put a thin rim (feeding eke) a few centimetres high on top of the bars.
4. Close the lid immediately and keep the operation short so as not to chill the hive.
5. Check: Throughout the winter, briefly lift the lid every few weeks to check the state of the candy. If it is nearly finished, add a new piece.

How much candy should be given?

There is no fixed amount; it depends on colony strength, the weather and the remaining stores. In practice, a piece of 1–2 kg is put on at a time and replaced as it is used up. Adding a new piece before the candy is completely finished stops the colony from starving on days when its stores hit zero.

Bees eating candy quickly shows that stores really are low and that brood rearing has started. Candy that is not touched at all has either been placed away from the cluster, or the colony still has enough honey.

Common mistakes when giving candy

• Using flour in candy: Wheat flour and similar starchy materials are not a suitable feed for bees; they can cause digestive problems in winter. Only sugar and a suitable liquid are used in candy.
• Adding fruit purée, grape molasses (pekmez) or molasses: They ferment, go mouldy and can cause dysentery in bees.
• Using brown sugar: The indigestible substances in it build up in the bees' gut in winter.
• Using honey of unknown origin: Honey from another apiary or from a shop can carry foulbrood spores.
• Putting candy away from the cluster, over the outer frames: In the cold, the cluster cannot move towards the feed and can starve just a few centimetres away from it.
• Giving candy too late: Candy given when the colony is already on the brink of starvation does not always arrive in time. Do not skip hefting checks at the end of winter.

Storage and hygiene

• Store candy in a dry, cool, enclosed place, protected from ants and mice.
• Remove opened, half-eaten candy from the hive in spring; do not use pieces that have absorbed moisture and gone mouldy.
• Do not give a half-eaten piece of candy from a dead hive to another colony; the cause of death may have been disease.
• Keep the containers used for making candy clean; do not leave feed lying open in front of the hives.