✅ Bee Fondant Fail: Don't Try This at Home

[@tarnishedknight730]

A few thoughts... First, watching you turn your heat off at about 250, I’m pretty certain that you overheated your syrup. Remember that the temperature will often “creep” or “coast” up from where you turn the heat off. Also the tan or brownish coloring is most likely from the sugar “caramelizing”. A combination of too much heat, and not enough stirring. If you don’t stir syrup enough, it can get very hot at the bottom of the pot and start to caramelize or even burn. And, in my opinion, you poured it way too thick. Fondant that you make for a cake is usually rolled out to about 1/8 inch thick and left to set for several hours (even overnight) to let the excess moisture evaporate. Start measuring your sugar and water. I know it sounds like a real pain in the rump; but trust me, you’ll love the results. Don’t start with hot water. Use a medium-high heat instead of high. Try pouring the mix a little thinner to see if that helps it set up better. If that don’t work very well, try using a little less water. Here is your recipe reduced by 75%. The proportions are the same as the full recipe. With the smaller batch you don’t waste as much time or ingredients. You can adjust the amount of liquid until you get it right; then just multiply that new recipe by 4 to go back to a full recipe. Sugar 2.5 lbs = 1,134 g Water 1 cup = 225 g Lemon juice 2.5 tsp = 62.5 g Did I mention grams, as in weigh this stuff??? Sure did! There are 28.35 grams (weight, not volume) to every U.S. ounce. That gives you a level of accuracy that no measuring cup or spoon can come close to. A cup of water weighs 225 grams. That divides 1 U.S. cup into 225.35 parts. You can ignore the .35 because that is a really small bit of water. Make your next batch with say… 205 grams of water and see how that turns out. You can continue to subtract or add grams of water until you get the right mix. Then multiply the weight by 4, 6, 8 or whatever you want to increase the recipe by. Hope this helps. Take what you need and leave the rest.

[@jenniferespiritu1065]

Thank you for sharing so humbly, I am laughing but I can totally feel you, I have been there and done that. I made Kaymon Renolds sugar honey and I wasted a whole day making it for it to fail the last 3-5 min. Some days are much better for cooking to come out the way the it should. I mess up making the sugar syrup 4 times. Now I have it down, so I think I do. Have you watch Vino Farm on KZbin? I haven't tried it yet but will try it in the future. You only fail if you don't try. Keep at it and its probably something really silly that you have over looked in the process. Oh yeah parchment paper works much better to keep things from sticking. Better than wax paper.

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

the wax paper worked great...sprayed with pam. didn't stick to anything

[@matthewsweeney2577]

That was great 👍

[@jasonfought]

Learn how to make marshmallow fondant. The bees love it. We feed it middle to late February. 1 bag of small marshmallows and 3 tbsp of water. Microwave it for 1:30 sec. Take it out of the microwave add in half a bag of powdered sugar and mix slowly. (Butter the bowl and spoon) after you get a ball formed knead in the rest of the bag (like bread) until it will not take any more. Flatten out and add straight to the top of the hive. If you want to cheat just order plain sugar fondat. You can get it in 50 blocks. Then cut slabs to add to your hives.

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

Thank you for the marshmallow recipe...sounds easy....as for the 50lb block of fondant ...yep...i mentioned it in the video at 10:11 ...had bigger explanation in the longer version I was intending, but it hit cutting room floor. Thanks again.

[@jasonfought]

@@KevinsNorthernExposure no problem I love watching your videos! Please keep the coming

[@oneshoo]

I guess I got lucky?? I used Kamon”s recipe for sugar bricks he recently posted and the first time I tried they came out perfect. The only thing I did different was to add a half cup of Ultra Bee to the 10 lbs of sugar when mixing its up. I baked the mixture for 2 hours at 170 degrees. The bricks were way more than I needed for my 2 hives, so I froze what was left over. 🤷‍♂️

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

Sugar bricks are different than this....this is fondant. I have a sugar brick video earlier this year.

[@oneshoo]

Kevin McMahon - Bear Creek Honey So Kevin what are the differences in feeding the bees fondant versus mountain camp versus sugar bricks??

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

@@oneshoo Fondant is "inverted" sugar. Honey is essentially "inverted" sugar......making fondant breaks down the sugar (sucrose) into fructose and glucose. Makes it easier for the bees to consume. The bees have to convert the sugar bricks into glucose and fructose themselves using the enzyme "invertase" . Essentially, we are saving the bees from an extra step.

[@oneshoo]

Kevin McMahon - Bear Creek Honey Now I get it! Thanks for the great explanation! 👍

[@pacanoeist]

sugar is very sensitive to temperature so use a candy thermometer and take it to softball stage, or to hardball stage to see what you like, but no higher than hardball stage or it's ruined.

[@williambaker7365]

Freezing it and breaking it workd

[@lenoretalon9958]

Just use sugar bricks. Mountain camp for Italians lol. Bee fondant is hard to make and messy. Did you use a thermometer? They will eat it but fondant also may melt in your hive. They will love it

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

10:09

[@tinacalifano5023]

Can you freeze it then break into pieces? Just an idea❤️🕊❤️🐝❤️Happy Beekeeping ❤️🕊🐝❤️

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

@@tinacalifano5023 quite possible...but I'll be honest.... I left the taffy on the block and overnight is slowly melted (not really melted, but thats as close description as possible) and stuck to everything in its path.....if I put this in the hive...with the bee heat....I would not want to see the mess it would create. ..... sometimes you have to raise the white flag.

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

haha...yeah...Italians really mow through their stores, don't they? Mountain camp for sure for them!

[@jenniferespiritu1065]

@@tinacalifano5023 that is what I was thinking too!

[@elizabethherschleb7313]

It looks like your sugar was to hot. I’ve made it before but it did a number on my mixer so I don’t bother with it anymore. My consistency was fine but it was time consuming. Sugar bricks are much easier and just as effective.

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

I would agree with everything you said.

[@jennyhemfjell8876]

please make videos of the bees eting this stuf :)

[@davidstephens4763]

Heat the knife first mate, should stop sugar sticking to knife

[@edcoffin3514]

Give Elmers a call😎😎😎

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

LOL......right?

[@edcoffin3514]

@@KevinsNorthernExposure ☺

[@firemanflash4164]

Missing shortening like konola oil

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

I've only seen candy recipes with that in it

[@hootervillehoneybees8664]

Maybe if you freeze it then break it up

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

it melts even at room temp...would be an absolute mess inside a hive

[@beehinde]

You didn't place the sausepan in cold water and whisk at the end

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

5:25.....and in the second batch I mixed it for 50 minutes...didn't work....sugar syrup just got too hot is my only guess...had flame as low as it would go after reaching temp.

[@beehinde]

@@KevinsNorthernExposure When I used to make it I added glucose from a tube into the mix before boiling and whisked it as soon as it was placed in the water. You said a temperature of252°F, it should be no higher than 235°F

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

@@beehinde I was following a recipe where they ran 250 (video)...and it worked for them....I dont' know......... TBH.....the process is extremely time consuming...more than I had hoped or thought...even if I had got it right I doubt I'd endorse making it. More trouble than the benefits........

[@beehinde]

@@KevinsNorthernExposure Agreed it is too messy, I use Fondabee, a bit expensive but we'll worth it, with a long shelf life. As an emergency feed I use a bag of sugar with slits in it and dunked in water to make it damp. We also use Baker fondant.

[@dorothywertz6829]

I think you let the boil get too hot. The recipes I’ve seen say 236 and NOT over 240. If it burns and caramelizes it can kill your bees.

[@patrickbodenham6879]

this job is SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS

[@patrickbodenham6879]

Never. Again. Life is too short.