Buy it now and receive it between Wednesday, 12 August and Friday, 14 August with Ontime
READY TO USE, NO MIXING | 27-29 % MOISTURE · THICK, 3:1 |
13 kg DRUM (SOLD BY WEIGHT) | pH 4.5 AS DECLARED BY THE MAKER |
Invert syrup that is ready to use, thick (3:1 ratio, 27-29 % moisture), with the three sugars balanced and an extract of seven plants. A 13 kg drum from Dulcofruct.
The question this page keeps being asked is always the same: do I pour it as it is, or mix it with water and sugar? As it is. And there is only one thing you dilute it for.
01 · HOW TO FEED IT
Nothing to dissolve and nothing to heat: it comes inverted and at the density of a 3:1 syrup. Pour it into the feeder and that is that.
| Autumn feed | Neat, untouched. This is where the density pays: less water for the bees to drive off before they cap it |
|---|---|
| Spring stimulation | Diluted 1:1 with water, the density bees read as nectar coming in |
And one detail people also ask about: the drum is sold by weight, not by volume. It is 13 kg of thick syrup, so the container works out at a bare ten litres — not thirteen. When working out how many drums you need, count in kilos.
02 · THE THREE SUGARS
Home-made syrup is dissolved sucrose and little else; this one arrives inverted, that is, with the sucrose already split into the simple sugars a bee takes up without any prior work. The maker declares 32 % fructose, 34 % glucose and 19 % sucrose, and a pH of 4.5 — an acid figure, in line with honey, which is the environment a bee's gut is built for. Those numbers are also the honest way to compare syrup prices: a thinner one weighs the same but carries more water, so it is worth reading the declared moisture before the price per kilo.
03 · THE HERBAL EXTRACT
This is what separates this syrup from the basic one in the range. It carries extract of thyme, nettle, rhubarb, St John's wort, basil, mint and wormwood, which bring plant polyphenols and tannins. It is worth saying plainly what it is and is not: this is a feed, not a treatment. It does not stand in for hive health work, it acts on no disease of the colony, and no such role is claimed for it here. What beekeepers do notice — and it comes up in reviews from several countries — is the smell: it smells of herbs, and they take it down quickly.
04 · BEFORE YOU BUY
The whole range comes in drum format, and the difference is what sits on top of the sugar:
| Classic 13 kg | Sugars only, thicker (21-23 % moisture) and with zinc and copper. The budget one |
|---|---|
| Optimal 13 kg (this one) | Balanced sugars + extract of seven herbs |
| Complete ApiTotal | The fullest: adds vitamins, minerals and amino acids. In 2 kg bags |
| ✓ FITS | Feeding without making syrup at home, with the option of diluting it to stimulate. |
| ✕ DOESN'T FIT | Standing in for a health treatment. Or covering a pollen shortage: this is energy, not protein. |
| ⚠ NOT INCLUDED | The feeder. The drum is poured; the container in the hive is bought separately. |
| Product | Ready-to-use invert syrup · Dulcofruct |
|---|---|
| Format | 13 kg drum · 20 × 31 × 17 cm |
| Sugars | Fructose 32 % · glucose 34 % · sucrose 19 % |
| Moisture | 27-29 % · density equivalent to a 3:1 |
| pH | 4.5 |
| Plant extract | Thyme · nettle · rhubarb · St John's wort · basil · mint · wormwood |
| Directions for use | Neat in autumn · diluted 1:1 with water for stimulation |
Specific References
1 file available

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