Robin  said:
I get the impression USA producers are more in the bulk market - with
enormous crops to get rid of - and produce to a lower standard and get a
lower price.  Is that right?

U.S.A. large scale honey producers do not produce to a lower standard. The
opposite is true. ALL large scale honey packers test the honey they buy for
resale. Adulteration with fructose is always tested. It is illegal to sell
under the label of *pure honey* with detectable amounts of fructose *unless*
the product is labeled a *honey blend* with fructose on the label such as is
given away at the Burger King fast food chain.

The small beekeeper selling to friends and neighbors can easily pass on
fructose(sugar syrup) mixed honey as he/she never has the honey tested.
I doubt the beekeeper would intentionally sell honey with a high level of
syrup but the problem can happen with heavy feeding as the bees simply move
the stored syrup up into  into supers in order to expand the growing brood
nest.

With honey being put on a three year watch list by the FDA I suspect
problems with fructose in honey might be found although the FDA is mostly
looking for other problems rather than fructose .

Fructose mixed in with pure honey poses no known health risk and although
illegal is of low priority to the FDA. Usually only looked at when a
complaint is made by a consumer. A couple of U.S. Packers have had their
hands lightly slapped for the practice and I suspect cutting honey with
fructose is done on a large scale where  testing is not done as is the case
in many third world countries.

Those which do not sell to stores in the U.S. most likely will never have a
jar of their honey tested by the FDA. I suspect most others will see their
honey checked over the next three years and large packers many times.

Knowing when to feed and the amount is complicated and only comes with
experience. Over feeding is a waste of time by the bees and money on the
beekeepers part and causes swarming by crowding the brood  nest with syrup
so the queen has no place to lay eggs.

My advice is to closely monitor the drawing process and keep the feeder full
when needed and begin the reduce feed as needed when needed. When you see
the bees  are packing the queens laying area with syrup you are overfeeding.

The above is not the way most large scale beekeepers get comb drawn.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri

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