I said: > If you plan to put the syrup into a drum anyhow, just fill the drum > with as much hot water as you figure you'll need and put a sump > pump into it, then add sugar slowly while the pump runs. If you > pre-measure the sugar and water, you'll get the right mix. Let me add this: It has been a long time since I used a sump pump in a drum to mix syrup. The only limitation may be how thick you can get the syrup and that may depend on the quality of the pump in question. I don't recall any problems using a cheap upright and I mixed a lot of syrup with it before I graduated to other methods and then to buying truckloads of pre-mixed sucrose at a time. I know a submersible sewage pump can handle thicker material, but if you start with hot water and don't dump in too much sugar at once, you should be able to get to the saturation point quite easily. As I recall, there will sometimes be some sugar precipitation after the syrup cools and that can be used to make the next batch. Tap water is only about 130 degrees so that nobody gets scalded when turning on a kitchen or bathroom tap. See https://www.google.com/search?&q=what%20temperature%20is%20hot%20tap%20water%3F Boiling point of water is 212F at sea level, so there is lots of room to make the water hotter for faster mixing and clearer syrup. The easy way is to get hotter water is to turn up the control on the hot water tank supplying the water, but warn everyone first, tag the taps, and be sure to turn it down as soon as you are done. Overdo it and steam can come out of the taps, so be careful! There are also submersible electric water heaters -- basically an element in an aluminum casting on a wand handle -- that are available at farm supply stores for heating cattle waterers in winter. Whatever you do, use a clean, food-approved honey drum and don't heat the syrup once the sugar is added as there can be catalytic reactions with the sugar if the drum has flaws. and the water heater would caramelize the syrup in contact. If the syrup is too cold for feeding after sitting, use gentle heating methods -- like taking it indoors. allen *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm