Turning leftover syrup into candy

[Elisabeth M]

I have 2 gallons of 2:1 syrup left over from fall feeding.  Can I make it into candy for candy boards and if so how? Or will it keep in the fridge?  Thanks for the help

[Greg V]

Keep in a cool garage as-is. Use in spring.

On Tue, Dec 20, 2016 at 4:37 PM, Elisabeth M <eyes...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have 2 gallons of 2:1 syrup left over from fall feeding.  Can I make it into candy for candy boards and if so how? Or will it keep in the fridge?  Thanks for the help

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "madbees" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to madbees+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[James]

The short answer is yes, but you'll need to get a candy board recipe (there's a ton of them out there) and then do the math for the amount of sugar in your syrup.  But basically, candy board recipes are usually sugar, some corn syrup and a small amount of  an acid catalyst like cream of tartar that you dissolve in water and then cook until the water is driven off and the temperature gets to about 250 degrees.  You then let it cool a bit, whip it up and pour it into a pan to solidify.  The whole heating process inverts the sugar.  Or, as Greg suggests, keep it cool so cooties don't grow in it and save it til spring.

[Matt H]

From:  http://mainebeekeepers.org/information-for-beekeepers/recipies-formulations/sugar-candy-and-syrup-recipes/#ixzz4TU9lijPK

Stovetop Candy Recipe

1. Heat one pint (1/2 liter) of water to boiling in a large pot on stove.
2. Stir in as much sugar as can be dissolved. This will be about 5 pounds (2 Kg). More sugar is better.
3. Boil without a cover, stirring it near continuous until the mixture reaches 234 degrees F. It takes a while.
4. Pour into a mold made of cardboard or a container lined with waxed paper or butcher’s paper. The candy will harden as it cools. The candy will become brittle, and can be slipped on top of frames where the bees will consume it. Or pour it into an inner cover without the vent hole (use duct tape to cover the hole). Use the inner cover upside down with the candy in the  brood chamber.

So their recipe is 500g water + 2000g sugar, or 4 to 1.  Since you're starting with 2:1, you need to take the amount you have and add roughly an equal weight of sugar (80% of your current syrups weight if you want to be exact).  

An alternative to a full candy board is to make sugar bricks/blocks.  This is much easier as it doesn't require a fairly precise heating step (if you burn the sugar candy board making it's not usable).  The downside to this over a candy board is that it requires much more dry sugar and won't use up your 2:1 as fast. 

For a 5 pound bag of dry sugar add 1 1/4c of your 2:1 syrup.  Mix thoroughly by hand or with a mixer.  Press into a mold (whatever size you want) and let dry for a week or so at room temp.  You can dry them faster in a dehydrator or very low (bread proofing) oven, but it's not really necessary unless you need them right away.  

I personally have had 2:1 syrup develop mold when kept sealed in the fridge, so you may want to either freeze it (garage like Greg said) or use it to make sugar boards or bricks.


Hope this helps.

~Matt

On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 4:37:11 PM UTC-6, Elisabeth M wrote:

[jeanne hansen]

Doesn't she mean she wants to turn the syrup into candy for PEOPLE??

But if for bees, I kept my left-over 1 1/5 to 1 syrup just in the unheated garage all last winter.  The jar did not break because it didn't freeze.  No kind of mold grew in it.  The bees sucked it down the next spring.  If her syrup really is 2:1 it will freeze and mold EVEN LESS!

 

Thanks!
Jeanne Hansen
824 Jacobson Ave
Madison, WI 53714
608-244-5094

---

From: Matt H <matthew...@gmail.com>
To: madbees <mad...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2016 9:20 AM
Subject: [madbees] Re: Turning leftover syrup into candy

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "madbees" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to madbees+u...@googlegroups.com.

[Matt H]

Not sure how many folks call people candy "Candy Boards" Jeanne ;-)

[Paul Zelenski]

It I'll keep in your unheated garage or you can make candy boards. If you want to make candy, I would recommend the "sugar cube" method matt recommends rather than making actual candy. It is much easier and just as good for the bees. You also don't have the danger of burning it and making it unusable (or burning yourself). 

[Elisabeth M]

Thank you everybody! I think I will just pop them in the freezer and thaw them out in the spring. Unless I need more candy boards then I will use Matts recipie.  

 
On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 4:37:11 PM UTC-6, Elisabeth M wrote:

[Elisabeth M]

LOL yes candy for 100 thousand little fuzzy people that sting! You made me laugh. Thank you :) Jeanne

On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 9:46:46 AM UTC-6, jeanne hansen wrote:

[Greg V]

Hey now! Bees are people too!

[Elisabeth M]

I know she just made me smile and I needed it. Just discovered I had a hive that died during last weeks cold snap because they were to small of a cluster. Felt like going to a funeral cleaning it out.