This simulation turns the classic "2:1 or 1:1" autumn feeding decision into something you can watch happen: a beehive on the left fills its honeycomb stores from a syrup feeder on the right, at a rate that depends on how concentrated the syrup is and how cold it is outside.
Storage rate = base rate × concentration efficiency(ratio) × temperature factor(T). A thicker 2:1 syrup needs less processing effort per kilogram stored than a thin 1:1 mix, so raising the ratio speeds up the honeycomb fill — right up until the temperature drops below flight threshold and liquid feeding stops entirely.
Drag the ratio slider between 1:1 and 2:1 to change syrup concentration and colour, move temperature to see bees stop flying below about 10°C (fondant patty appears instead), set a target stores goal, and speed up simulated days to watch the honeycomb fill over a full autumn.
Mixing 2:1 syrup at home is simplest by weight: two kilograms of sugar dissolved into one litre of hot water gives a reasonably accurate 2:1 ratio — the same ratio this simulation rewards with the fastest honeycomb fill once temperatures allow it.
Sugar syrup concentration is a signal to the colony, not just calories. A thin 1:1 syrup reads like a natural nectar flow and stimulates brood rearing, while a thick 2:1 syrup requires far less evaporation effort and is the efficient choice for building winter stores quickly before the weather turns too cold to process feed at all.
rate = base × efficiency(ratio) × tempFactor(T)
efficiency(ratio) = 0.5 + 0.5·(ratio − 1) — 2:1 syrup stores roughly twice as fast as 1:1.
tempFactor(T) = clamp((T − 10) / 8, 0, 1) — liquid feeding ramps to zero below 10°C.
A full-sized UK colony typically needs somewhere around 18-22 kg of winter stores — try setting the target near that range and comparing how many simulated days a 1:1 versus a 2:1 syrup takes to fill it.