Honey B Healthy Concentrate

[Understudy]

Hi All,

I have been playing mad scientist in my kitchen, much to the chagrin of my wife who reminds me that she just mopped the floors.

While the Honey B Healthy recipe is available even here.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,19276.msg145059.html#msg145059
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,6296.0.html
and in a bunch of other places on this forum. Let's face it. This recipe is for stuff you can put in a feeder and give to the bees. It is not the recipe for the concentrate. Which is what you buy from the bee suppliers.

So this is a recipe for the concentrate.

So after going and making a nice smelling kitchen and house. And about 14 batches I think I have what I want. Please note this is pretty raw experimentation stage.

Let's look at the ingredients.

Lecithin Granules. Available at most health food stores. I got mine at The Vitamin Shop. Big jar cost me about $15 as I recall.
Spearmint Oil. Ebay was my friend here. 8oz/.25L cost $17.00 which is a bit high but it was a decent sized bottle.
Lemongrass Oil. I bought a 16oz/.5L bottle for around $18.00 about a year ago.
Sucrose, Table sugar. 5lb/2.2KG
Water. Got it from the sink your price may vary.

Now in the normal recipe you are doing the sugar water mix 1:1 and then added a small amount of lecithin and a few drops of lemongrass and spearmint oils. It is a very good recipe and you certainly should use it.

Of course the old adage is oil and water don't mix. However that is what the lecithin is for. Let's do this:
1 cup water (approximately 8 fluid oz/.25 L) heated to just about boiling, but not quite. 190F / 88C.
1 cup sugar
Place in blender and blend at low speed until sugar is dissolved in water. Should take a few seconds not more.
Remember next time to place the lid on the blender. (This step if missed can cause an unhappy spouse).
Add 6 heaping tablespoons of lecithin granules.
Turn the blender on at a low speed cycle for just a few seconds. I know not everything dissolved but don't worry we will get back to it.
Add 1/4 teaspoon spearmint oil
Add 1/4 teaspoon lemongrass oil

Turn blender on at low speed for a minute ( it doesn't have to be exact ).

If you have done everything right you should notice the lemongrass oil slightly. You should have a pale looking orange juice (think pale yellow). Put some on your finger and rub your fingers together it should have a slightly viscous (thick) feel to it. That will get better as it cools down. So if you do it when it's warm it may not feel as viscous.

Now take this and store in a bottle or whatever will hold approximately 16oz of fluid.

Do not feed this directly to your bees.

When you are ready you make your sugar water mix and add a little of the concentrate to the sugar water. If I recall the amount is 1 teaspoon to 1 quart.


Please note the real Honey B Healthy has sodium lauryl sulfate it is a surfactant. Also know as a wetting agent. If you really want a wetting agent you can add a small amount of Yucca Juice. 

Please feel free to make any corrections or suggestions. If you know of another emulsifier besides lecithin that is cool too.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[lotsobees]

Great info. Thx tons!

[Jumpstart]

I have been looking for a Honey B Healthy concentrate recipe myself.  It seems every one I have found is just a repost of the same recipe that Brendhan has pointed out in this post. 

While the Honey B Healthy recipe is available even here.
forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,19276.msg145059
forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,6296.0
and in a bunch of other places on this forum. Let's face it. This recipe is for stuff you can put in a feeder and give to the bees. It is not the recipe for the concentrate. Which is what you buy from the bee suppliers.

I'm not sure that these recipes are a concentrate.  The recipe that Brendhan posts here seems to be the same concentration of lemongrass and spearmint oils as the other posts just in different measures.  1/4 teaspoon = 15 drops of thick liquid (source: germancorner.com/recipes/hints/units).  Does any one have any other recipes than what has already been stated here?  Thanks.

[Understudy]

My experiments in working on making this show that if you go much more then that you really over power the mix. However please go ahead and try to make some at your own ratio. If you come up with a mix you feel better with that is awesome. Then please share it.

[DCHoneybees]

Made some myself last week with inspiration from your recipe and another from this forum.

Here is the link:
http://dchoneybees.blogspot.com/2011/03/test-run-of-homemade-honey-bee-healthy.html

Powerful stuff.  Still running my blender in the dishwasher to remove the essence.

The bees do not seem to be taking this mix with the same enthusiasm as my general bee tea in my open feeding experiment.  The jury remains in deliberations at this point as to the benefits.  My next experiment will be to add some of the homemade potion to a bee tea solution as see if it improves take-up.

[Understudy]

Made some myself last week with inspiration from your recipe and another from this forum.

Here is the link:
http://dchoneybees.blogspot.com/2011/03/test-run-of-homemade-honey-bee-healthy.html

Powerful stuff.  Still running my blender in the dishwasher to remove the essence.

The bees do not seem to be taking this mix with the same enthusiasm as my general bee tea in my open feeding experiment.  The jury remains in deliberations at this point as to the benefits.  My next experiment will be to add some of the homemade potion to a bee tea solution as see if it improves take-up.

I am glad you made the mix. I am sorry to hear it did not work as well for you. I have renamed mine Brendhan's Bee Crack. When I did a side by side non scientific study. The buckets in an open feeding with Bee Crack as compared to regular sugar water were empty two days faster.

My results have shown that it works well for me when there is not a flow on. If there is a flow then they tend to ignore it and the sugar water.

Please continue and let me know how it does in the mix with the tea.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[theriverhawk]

Made some....definitely had more similar consistency to actual HBH concentrate than other recipes. 

Just curious as to thoughts on shelf life?  I made about 2 gallons of feed and added this concentrate.  The next day, I noticed the jar of concentrate had turned a hard burnt orange color instead of the yellowish it was the day before.

[Understudy]

Made some....definitely had more similar consistency to actual HBH concentrate than other recipes. 

Just curious as to thoughts on shelf life?  I made about 2 gallons of feed and added this concentrate.  The next day, I noticed the jar of concentrate had turned a hard burnt orange color instead of the yellowish it was the day before.

Yes, I have had that happen when the emulsifier (lecithin) doesn't dissolve properly. It takes a real high speed blender mixing the lecithin and then adding it to the mix. You end up with a red mix with lots of graininess. The mix is still good but it tends to not mix as well with the sugar water.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[jcarry]

Hy everyone my name is jcarry.i want to share somthing with you about topic
HONEY-B-HEALTHY is a honeybee feeding stimulant composed of lemongrass and spearmint oil concentrate. HONEY-B-HEALTHY helps promote healthy vigorous hives when used as a feeding stimulant. Use as a feeding stimulant for late winter, early spring, and during dearth's of nectar. Also add to your feeding mix to help build up packages, nucs and swarms.
I AM USING IT AND IT IS THE BEST

[Understudy]

Hy everyone my name is jcarry.i want to share somthing with you about topic
HONEY-B-HEALTHY is a honeybee feeding stimulant composed of lemongrass and spearmint oil concentrate. HONEY-B-HEALTHY helps promote healthy vigorous hives when used as a feeding stimulant. Use as a feeding stimulant for late winter, early spring, and during dearth's of nectar. Also add to your feeding mix to help build up packages, nucs and swarms.
I AM USING IT AND IT IS THE BEST

You must be new here.

Outside of blatant spamming. Nobody here is trashing  HBH. They ar3e just looking for a slightly less expensive alternative. Come back when you have turned your brain on.