Idealbee Fondant Ginseng 10kg

01 · WHY 89 % DRY MATTER

Energy without water they cannot void

The 89 % dry matter is what separates this tablet from a syrup in winter. With so little water, the colony gets energy without the excess liquid that fills the rectum when the bees cannot get out to defecate — the origin of flight dysentery. And by texture, the tablet does not soften or run in the heat: it can be used in any season without fear of it dripping onto the brood.

02 · WHAT THE GINSENG ADDS

The winter bee is measured in months

The winter bee is not measured by what she eats but by how long she lasts: well fed and with vitellogenin reserves loaded, she can live four or five months; malnourished or under a high oxidative load, she does not get past six weeks. That is where the ginsenosides come in, acting as antioxidants and as a general tonic. The manufacturer cites cage trials — caged bees, not colonies — in which the ginseng and fondant combination tripled longevity against the control group, with the result repeated across several runs. It is a laboratory figure, not a promise about wintering; what does depend on it at the apiary is the mass of bees that reaches February, when the queen starts laying in earnest.

03 · HOW TO PUT IT IN

On the top bars, ten centimetres from the cluster

There is nothing to dilute, heat or mix: cut the plastic film to whatever size you want and rest the tablet on the top bars with the plastic facing up, which is what slows drying out. The guide maintenance dose over winter is 1 to 1.5 kg per month per hive. The more centred over the cluster — 10 cm at most — the sooner they reach it without moving away and losing body heat.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Store it dry, between 10 and 25 °C and out of direct light; on those terms shelf life is 18 months from manufacture. If the place is warm, leave the original film on the exposed face so it does not dry out and harden. Against a conventional fondant, what you pay extra for is the ginseng, and that extra makes sense if your problem is winter losses to starvation over long cold spells; if you only need to cover stores, a plain fondant does the same energy job. And the usual rule: do not feed during the flow if you intend to harvest that honey for sale.