A candy board is a clever way to help our bees make it through a cold winter. In this article, we look at how to make a candy board for bees using simple methods.
A candy board is a block of crystalline sugar placed at the top of the hive. The board is made in such a way that air leaving the hive is drawn over the board.
With a candy board, we are taking granulated white table sugar and adding just a little water to it and a very small amount of vinegar. The reason we use this mix is quite simple. A small amount of water will dissolve some sugar.
5 Gallon Bucket/pail
Small spade for mixing. (When I wrote this I discovered I have been calling a spade a shovel for 40 years)
measuring cup or jug
a tablespoon measure
Place the 16 lb of sugar in a bucket. Mix a tablespoon of vinegar into three cups of water and slowly mix this into the sugar using the spade. You can use a sort of digging and then stirring motion and try to get the entire sugar volume just a little damp.
As you perform your spring management you can collect the leftover sugar in the candy boards and dissolve it in water to make your spring sugar syrup for feeding the bees.
What To Do With Leftover Candy Board Sugar In Spring
We add a little vinegar to the solution so as to acidify the candy. Lower pH solutions inhibit the growth of mold in the candy board in winter. This is useful as it avoids the bees being exposed to fungal mycotoxins.