Looking to do some winter feeding? Concerned maybe your bees do not have enough stores? We know have Bee Candy Boards in stock $15 for 10 and 8 frame and $12 for 5 frame
Kent William's Sugar Brick Recipe
25lbs. granulated sugar (Six four pound bags is close enough.)
1 Qt. Cider Vinegar – not distilled
2 Tbsps. Citric Acid - found in the canning area of grocery stores
3 Tbsps. Honey Bee Healthy
You can divide the numbers above and hand mix if you don’t need a full batch. Smaller batches can be hand mixed with a big spoon or paddle. I mix the vinegar, citric acid and Honey Bee Healthy in a clean orange juice container and add 1/6 of the solution as I add and mix each individual bag into the bucket. You don’t want to throw 24 lbs of sugar in the bucket and add the liquid all at one time.
Combine ingredients in a five gallon bucket with a drill (preferably 1/2 inch) and a paint/drywall mixing paddle. Add more vinegar if needed, but not too much. Better to be patient and mix longer using a spatula to fold mixture to allow mixing paddle to mix dry spots.
Spoon wet mixture and press firmly into 2&1/2 lb french fry cardboard trays/boats. You can place on to paper plates or similar in lieu of using french fry boats. Allow bricks to dry until hard. Usually 2-3 days in a warm garage. Better to dry out longer than rush them to the bees still smelling of vinegar and adding more moisture to the colony as well. Makes about a dozen bricks bricks.
Place on top of frames inside of a 2 or 3 inch shim/rim board or use an empty medium super. I like to leave the cardboard trays in place as the bees seem to like to cluster under them as they consume the brick but you can remove them if you want. If you use paper plates you will want to place the brick on a piece of newspaper with the plate on top. Cut 2-3 four inch slits in the newspaper before you place the brick on the frames.
Check the bees again in a week to see if they need another brick. I usually place two bricks on full size colonies and one on nucs.
