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Fondant and sugar brick calculator for bees

Fondant, sugar bricks or a candy board: solid sugar for colonies that run short once it is too cold for syrup. Enter the weight you want and get the sugar, the water and the candy temperatures from extension recipes.

Make winter feed from plain white granulated sugar. Do not feed honey from other beekeepers or the store: it can carry American foulbrood spores.

Recipe
lb

One Utah State batch makes 4.5 lb (three 1.5 lb patties); one Oregon State batch of sugar bricks starts from a 10 lb bag of sugar.

Result

  • 4lbof white sugar (1.81 kg)
  • 2cupsof water (473 mL)
  • 3pattiesof 1.5 lb (0.68 kg)

Boil to 235 to 240 °F (113 to 116 °C), or 224 to 230 °F at high elevation. Cool to 200 to 210 °F, beat until creamy and opaque, then pour onto paper plates to set.

How it is calculated

The three recipes

RecipeBatchMethod
Cooked fondant (Utah State)4 lb sugar, 16 oz water; makes three 1.5 lb pattiesBoil to 235 to 240 °F (224 to 230 °F along the Wasatch Front), cool to 210 °F, beat between 200 and 210 °F, set on paper plates
Sugar bricks (Oregon State)10 lb sugar, about 1 cup waterStir the water into the sugar, pack into trays, let harden overnight; no cooking
Small-batch fondant (University of Minnesota)2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 2 tbsp light corn syrup; about 1 lbBoil without stirring to 238 °F (soft ball), cool to 110 °F, work into a creamy mass, shape into patties between wax paper

The formulas

total = weight per colony × colonies
cooked fondant: sugar = total ÷ 1.125 (4 lb of sugar give 4.5 lb), water = sugar × ½ cup per lb
sugar bricks: sugar = total × 10 ÷ 10.5 (1 cup of water ≈ 0.52 lb), water = sugar ÷ 10 cups
small batch: batches = total ÷ 1 lb; 2 cups sugar (≈ 0.88 lb), 1 cup water, 2 tbsp corn syrup each

Boiling drives off most of the water, which is why 4 lb of sugar and a pound of water end up as about 4.5 lb of fondant. Sugar bricks dry as they harden, so their finished weight is close to the weight of the sugar. A US cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200 g (7 oz).

Placing it in the hive

Lay fondant or bricks on the top bars right above the cluster, or over the inner cover hole, on a mild day. Utah State advises a patty thin enough for the lid to close, and notes that bees are unlikely to eat a patty that reaches the edges of the box; Minnesota suggests two smaller patties on either side of the cluster rather than one large one. A candy board is the same idea built into a shim. The Honey Bee Health Coalition warns against feeding weak colonies dry sugar, since bees need water to use it.

Solid sugar is emergency feed, not a way to build winter stores: fall stores come from honey and 2:1 syrup, worked out with the sugar water calculator. Regional targets and timing are in our guide to feeding honey bees.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make fondant for bees?

Utah State University Extension boils 4 lb of white sugar in 16 oz of water to 235 to 240 °F (soft ball), lets it cool to about 210 °F, then beats it until it turns creamy and pours it onto paper plates to set. The batch makes three 1.5 lb patties. At high elevation, stop at 224 to 230 °F.

What is a sugar brick for bees?

A block of hardened sugar placed on the top bars as winter emergency feed. Oregon State University's bee lab mixes 10 lb of white granulated sugar with about a cup of water, packs it into trays and lets it harden overnight. No cooking is needed. Keep the brick thin enough for the lid to close, and place it right above the cluster.

When should I put fondant on my hive?

When the colony is short of stores and it is too cold for liquid syrup. Cornell lists dry sugar, fondant or a candy board for January and February in the Northeast, placed above the cluster on a mild day. Bees at the inner cover hole are a sign they are running out of food.

Is fondant better than sugar syrup?

For different jobs. Syrup, 2:1 in fall, is what bees store and cap for winter. Fondant and sugar bricks are emergency food eaten in place once the cluster has formed. A colony that goes into winter 30 lb short cannot be rescued with one 4.5 lb batch of fondant.

Can I use cake fondant from the store?

Check the ingredients first. The feed you want is plain sucrose. Bees cannot digest starch, and several sugars and additives in confectionery are hard on them, so avoid products with cornstarch or other added ingredients. Making it from white granulated sugar is cheap and you know what is in it.

What is a candy board?

A shim or inner cover filled with hardened sugar that sits directly above the frames, so the cluster can reach the feed all winter. Cornell lists it alongside dry sugar and fondant for late winter. Some extension specialists prefer leaving enough honey in fall and feeding syrup in spring instead.

How much fondant should I give a hive?

Enough to bridge to the next mild spell or to spring, and placed where bees can reach it. Utah State notes a patty must be thin enough for the lid to close and that bees are unlikely to eat it if it reaches the edges of the box. Check on mild days and add more when it is gone.

Sources

  1. Bee nutrition (fondant patty recipe), Utah State University Extension
  2. Candy boards (with a fondant recipe), University of Minnesota, Bee Squad and Gary Reuter
  3. PolliNation episode 168: late winter hive management, Oregon State University Extension Service
  4. Beekeeping Calendar for the Northeast, Cornell University, CALS Pollinator Network
  5. Overwintering, Cornell University, CALS Pollinator Network
  6. Honey Bee Nutrition and Supplemental Feeding Guide (2024), Honey Bee Health Coalition

Calculators