This time of year sugar syrup is supposed to be mixed at a two-to-one ratio
of sugar to water (by weight) which means a gallon of syrup consists of 7.5
LBS. of sugar and 7.5 cups of water.  A pound of water is about one pint or 2
cups.  I boiled the water in a large pot and stirred in the sugar until it all
dissolved.  Then I let it cool a few hours before pouring the syrup into a one
gallon jar with small holes in the lid.  The jar was then inverted and set over
the hole in the inner cover of a hive.  After a week I noticed the syrup
level was down to about 3 quarts remaining.  Another week went by and I saw the
syrup level had not changed.  Removing the lid from the jar revealing a thick
layer of sugar had settled out of the syrup and coated the inside of the lid
blocking off the holes so the bees could not get syrup out of the jar.  What am I
doing wrong?

Chris Reed
Arlington, Virginia

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