Supers on the Hives

I put the supers on the hives.   All those colors make me absurdly happy.  I have jars of sugar water tucked in the top boxes.   They won't encourage robbing there and the bees can feed at will.  This is especially important when it rains a lot and the bees can't get out to forage.

In a few weeks, I'll check the middle boxes to see how full they are.

More Bee Candy

In January I made bee candy to put in the lang.    Candy making is not exactly my forte and when I mentioned it on the bee forum, someone was nice enough to send me a slightly different recipe.    I tried it out and I like this one a bit better.

Thank you Tefer2!

Tefer2's  Bee Candy
www.rurification.com

• 5 lbs sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Use a tall pan with a wide bottom.   Like this one.

Bring water to boil and stir in vinegar and sugar.    Return to boil.   Stir a few times until it starts boiling hard, then leave it alone.   Heat to 242 degrees.     Turn off heat and let it sit until it cools to 200 degrees.  Stir until opaque and pour into molds, bowls, etc.

Tefer2 says this:

'The trick with the final stirring is cooling it before it starts to set up on you.  If you let it cool too much it will get too hard to pour. I start my final stirring somewhere between 180-200.  The hotter it is, the longer you will have to stir to cool it to reach opaque color.   I line my mold with clear saran wrap so it doesn't stick.   Use extra wrap over the sides because it shrinks some from the heat.   You can use any size mold you like.   You can even just pour it out flat on a lined baking tray.   The vinegar works better than cream of tartar.'

I did pour it flat on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil.   Worked great.  Broke apart into chucks that fit nicely on the frame tops.    

To speed up the stirring, use a mixer or hand blender.   Quit as soon as it starts to cloud up because it'll set up fast then.