Feed cost calculator
Feed is one of the biggest cash lines in a migratory operation — about 18% of operating costs in the University of Illinois 2025–26 sample budget. This works out what a feeding program costs before you mix the first bucket: sugar to buy, syrup to haul, and the cost riding on each colony.
The estimate
| Total syrup to mix | — |
| Sugar to buy | — |
| Water to mix it with | — |
| Syrup cost (sugar) | — |
| Patty cost | — |
| Whole program | — |
| Cost per colony | — |
Where the numbers come from. Syrup ratios are by weight, the published convention (Heritage Acres mixing chart: 2:1 is 2 pounds of sugar to 1 pound of water). Mixed that way, a gallon of finished 1:1 carries about 5.0 pounds of sugar and a gallon of 2:1 about 7.0 pounds — the same figures the standard batch recipes give (a 25-pound bag with 25 pounds of water makes about 5 gallons of 1:1; with 12.5 pounds of water, about 3.5 gallons of 2:1). A gallon of 2:1 therefore puts roughly 7 pounds of stores in the hive once the bees dry it down, which matches the published rule of thumb. Water weighs 8.34 pounds to the gallon. Feed's share of operating costs is from the University of Illinois farmdoc Sample Cost and Returns for a Migratory Commercial Beekeeping Operation 2025–2026.
An estimate. It counts sugar and patties only — not your labor, fuel, or feeder wear — and it assumes the bees take every gallon you mix.
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