For several years Mr. Fuller of Blackstone, Mass., as well as others, has been experimenting with this modified English candy, which should not harden beyond usefulness. Beekeepers of Massachusetts and elsewhere about the country have found it advantageous to use this as a substitute for honey or syrup. So numerous are the inquiries and satisfactory the results, that it seems desirable to prepare information in printed form.
The soft candy has numerous advantages and possibilities. It is found to be a most satisfactory stimulative feed; a food for bees in transit, either full colonies on combs, in combless packages, or for queens in mailing cages. It is also found satisfactory and advantageous as winter stores. Colonies have been observed to leave natural stores for the candy. This has occurred in colonies out of doors or in the cellar during winter, as well as with colonies which are flying. Some of the advantages of the candy are the ease with which it is handled or supplied; the fact that it may be made up in quantities and stored until needed for use; its failure to excite robbing; the ability to provision colonies with known amounts or weights; and its freedom from bee disease infection. It is furthermore found to be economical, there being no waste by evaporation or spilling, as is the case with liquid feeds. It is proving exceedingly practical in all feeding purposes and methods.
The candy may be made in any degree of hardness or softness, according to the preference of the individual or the needs of the season. As is inferred above, it may be made and stored for months and even years if properly handled. It may be molded in pulp, or wooden pie-plates, shallow tins or specially constructed feeders (see Figs. 1 and 2), “division-board feeders,” overhead or super feeders, or boards may be nailed to the side of a frame and the candy poured and molded within the frame, allowing this to be hung in the hive adjacent to the cluster. With the candy may be mixed pollen substitutes, but these are as yet in the experimental stage, and their efficiency or satisfactoriness is uncertain.
The latest formula or recipe for the cream, or soft candy, fondant, which is practically a confectioner’s recipe, is as follows:—
12 pounds granulated sugar.
1½ pounds liquid glucose.[1]
1¼ quarts water (equals 40 ounces, which equals 5 cupfuls).
¼ teaspoonful (about) cream of tartar, added when the temperature reaches about 230° F. or 110° C.
Boil to 238° F. or 114.4° C.
[1] Granular or crystal glucose may be used, mixing it with the usual amount of water. It may be desirable to modify the amount of glucose.