1. Introduction

Most large production colonies, properly fed and treated against varroa (1), do not present overwintering problems. The situation can be quite different for small nucs (or nuclei) created late after the harvest. The surface-to-volume ratio of their winter cluster is unfavorable, and heat loss may lead to excessive consumption of honey reserves. A return of cold weather that is common in February, when egg laying has resumed, could cause starvation and condemn these small colonies to die of hunger and then cold. The attentive beekeeper must weigh small colonies and give a boost to those at risk of starving by offering some fondant feed.

To the question of whether to feed with syrup or fondant, the answer is quite simple. When it is very cold, bees do not consume syrup in a feeder because it is too far from the cluster and often too cold to be absorbed by workers on the verge of torpor. By contrast, workers readily consume fondant offered on top of the frames, very close to the cluster, where the temperature is mildest. Another advantage of fondant is that it is mainly consumed for immediate needs rather than stored for later use; it will therefore be found only in negligible quantities in supers at harvest time and, during winter, it leaves sufficient space for the colony to move and to rear brood. Another advantage of fondant is that it does not stimulate (too much) the queen’s egg laying and does not induce an imbalance between nurse bees and brood; it therefore does not promote unwanted swarming in the coming May. In summary, fondant is above all a fuel that enables the colony to be heated.

Ok, it’s clear… but how do you shape your fondant?

In beekeeping, “fondant” refers to the sugar paste used to feed bees. This paste is composed of more than 80% of three main sugars (sucrose, glucose or grape sugar, and fructose or fruit sugar, see fig. 1) and less than 20% water. These concentrations are fairly close to those of honey. Apart from these three main sugars, honey contains a small percentage (3.5%) of sugars with different structures (e.g. melezitose, levulose, maltose, centrose, maltotriose…), 0.25% proteins (peptones, albumins, globulins, nucleoproteins…), grains of various pollens, trace elements or mineral salts essential for bee survival (copper, magnesium, sodium, manganese, calcium, potassium…), enzymes (alpha-amylase, glucose oxidase and catalase…), B-group vitamins, etc. Honey has an acidic pH ranging from 3.2 to 4.5, with an average of 3.9, and depending on the origin of nectar/honeydew, it contains aromatic compounds that allow it to be typified (rapeseed, thyme, rosemary, lavender, false acacia, fir, chestnut…)

Fig. 1: Overview of simple and complex carbohydrates as well as the molecular formulas of glucose, fructose and (di)sucrose, i.e. ordinary beet sugar

 

Commercial table sugar is sucrose or disaccharide, or sucrose, i.e. a “double” molecule consisting of a glucose molecule attached to a fructose molecule (see appendices). The disaccharide molecule can thus be split into two (glucose and fructose) by an enzyme called “invertase”. 

There are 2 methods simple ways to prepare fondant, within everyone’s reach, even for those who are not skilled in confectionery.

2. The first method is cold-prepared fondant

Fig. 2: Domestic mixer or bakery mixer for cold-prepared fondant

Advantages: extremely simple, no cooking, no cooling time for the mass, possibility of incorporating honey (closer to natural stores), proteins (for better larval nutrition ?), acids to promote invertase activity, oil to improve the texture of the paste... Incorporating multiple ingredients into cold-prepared fondant is an endless subject for reflection… Incorporating honey is probably beneficial because its smell will attract hungry workers and it will provide the elements described above. Be careful about the origin of the honey, as it may contain spores of foulbrood or Nosema ! Incorporating proteins is also an advantage… provided these proteins are useful to bees. The best proteins are supplied by pollen collected fresh the previous spring and frozen. Animal or plant proteins (eggs, brewer’s yeast, soy flour…) may be poorly absorbed and poorly metabolized because they are too different from pollen-derived proteins that bees have collected for 100 million years ? The incorporation of vinegar (apple cider at 1%) or acid (citric at 0.5%, tartaric… ?) may be useful to acidify the fondant (like honey) and promote the action of invertase ?

Disadvantages: the price of icing sugar is slightly higher than that of granulated sugar. Invertase activity is not spontaneous. Shaping requires a sufficiently powerful mixer.

Ingredients:

• sucrose (glucose+fructose) in the form of icing sugar (obtained by a fine grinding of granulated sugar; the large crystals of ordinary sugar are ground and form very small crystals that are much more easily absorbed by workers). Ordinary sugar is not suitable for preparing cold fondant; icing sugar must be used.
• 2.5 dl water / kg icing sugar.
• many other ingredients of your choice can be added (see above) without changing the texture of the final product since the preparation is not heated.                                

Preparation: mix the water and icing sugar with a bakery mixer. Using a domestic food processor is not recommended because the mass is too compact and the motor may “burn out”… After 15 minutes, the fondant mass is homogeneous and can be packaged in 1-kg portions in containers with rims low enough to fit over the inner cover hole, in close contact with the workers and under the thermal insulation (bubble/alu sheet) above the brood chamber. The fondant can also be packaged in plastic bags, vacuum-sealed and heat-sealed, to guarantee perfect texture in the long term. The bag, with a knife perforation, is positioned, like the container above, over the inner cover hole. It fits particularly well under the insulating sheet described above. Workers move to the top of the frames, where the temperature is mildest and humidity is higher. They nibble the fondant according to the colony’s thermoregulation needs.

3. Alternative method: hot-prepared fondant

Fig. 3: saucepan (stockpot) or heating vessel

Advantages: icing sugar (as for cold fondant) or granulated sugar can be used. Chemically, the two forms are identical. The only difference is the size of the sugar crystals. The sugar is heated until it becomes liquid; the crystals “melt” and then reorganize during gradual cooling. Granulated sugar is cheaper than icing sugar. Packaging granulated sugar in 25-kg bags is attractive for preparing large quantities of fondant. Heating enables invertase activity (inversion of the disaccharide into glucose and fructose) and the evaporation of part of the water. The composition of hot-prepared fondant is therefore closer to that of honey. No bakery mixer is needed.

Disadvantages: the mass must be heated precisely to 117°C. A large vessel is required to avoid boil-overs of the boiling sugar just before the end of the temperature rise, so beware of burn risks. Powerful gas burner. The cooling time from 117°C to 60°C to begin mixing is very long (several hours depending on volume) because sugar has very high endothermic inertia. A high-precision confectionery thermometer or a laser thermometer is required. Incorporating honey or proteins at the end of heating may modify the final texture of the fondant. These ingredients may lose some of their properties and be denatured due to the very high temperature of the mass. Heating honey forms 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF), which may be toxic to bees. Foulbrood and Nosema spores withstand the temperatures of hot-prepared fondant. Mixing requires a powerful electric mixer.

Ingredients:

• granulated sugar (cheaper) or icing sugar (more expensive)
• 2 dl water / kg granulated sugar 

Preparation: pour the water into the heating vessel. Turn on the burner. When the water is hot, add the granulated sugar and stir constantly to avoid caramelization on the bottom and sides of the vessel. If the sugar browns, the formation of a homogeneous fondant during cooling may not work well. When the mass clears and becomes a thick liquid, increasingly transparent with a golden coloration, stop stirring and let the temperature rise gradually. Sugar conducts heat poorly, and the pot configuration is such that heat is applied at the bottom of the vessel while the thermometer measures the temperature at the top. The thermometer must be immersed to measure the temperature in the center of the mass. Around 105°C, the liquid begins to boil and foam intensely and may overflow the rim. The flame must therefore be reduced somewhat to continue a slower temperature rise, and a vessel of double the capacity relative to the initial mass volume should be used. Beware of burns. After this difficult stage, allow the liquid to rise further in temperature, foaming less and less, until very precisely 117°C, but NOT MORE ! Immediately turn off the burner so as not to exceed this figure and let the slightly amber, transparent preparation cool. As it cools, the liquid will show, on the surface, a thin transparent crust, reminiscent of a layer of ice on the surface of a liquid beginning to set before freezing. Do not touch again until the temperature of the liquid reaches about 60°C. At this temperature, the very thick syrup is in supercooling. Supercooling is the state of a substance that remains in the liquid phase even though its temperature is below its solidification point. Then mix vigorously with the electric mixer until a whitish paste with very fine crystallization is obtained, for about 1–2 minutes. The fondant is ready to be packaged in containers or plastic bags, vacuum-sealed and heat-sealed. Be careful: this fondant is still very hot and can burn fingers… so be patient… before packaging.

 

 

Vessel and burner
Lighting the burner to heat the water
Add the sugar
Stir continuously to avoid sugar caramelization
Around 105°C, the mass boils and foams
Turn off the burner as soon as 117°C is reached
At 117°C, the mass no longer boils; let it cool without touching it further
Change of vessel for cooking a new batch…
There will be enough for everyone…
Mixing with an electric mixer once the temperature reaches about 60°C
After 1–2 minutes of mixing, the liquid becomes more and more pasty, eventually forming the fondant ready to be packaged in containers or bags
Bagging (milk cartons are used to obtain the approximate weight of 1 kg)
Vacuum-packed and heat-sealed
Finished product…
Packaged, ready to use

4. A bit of theory

Some definitions of simple or compound sugars
Some definitions of organic chemistry
Some examples of complex sugars
Some definitions of sugars that store energy in living organisms
Beekeeping fondant

 

Sources:

•  https://www.2imanagement.ch/?id=106&mod_action=show_entry&entry_id=553
•  https://www.2imanagement.ch/?id=106&mod_action=show_entry&entry_id=588
•  https://www.aubonmiel.com/recette-candi/
• Bees: make your own fondant!
• Bocquet M. Le nourrissement, éd. OPIDA 2005, ISBN 2-905851-13-9