On Mon, 17 Jul 1995, Marion D. Ellis wrote:
 
> I have observed starving colonies that were fed unrefined sugar in October
> in the mid-west that were severely affected by dysentery by December.  They
> were hauled to Texas by their owner in December who later described the
> situation to me as a total loss.
 
I am wondering exactly what type of 'unrefined sugar' this might be.
 
There are many many types of sugar and stages of refining.
 
Without saying that the feed was not the cause (or a contributing cause).
I must add that bees that are starving in the fall are often a total loss
no matter what you do, especially if they haver reached the stage of
canabalising the brood and exhausting the pollen reserves that are
uncovered.
 
Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that the pure the sugar is, the less
problems might develop, however there are various degrees of unrefinement
and I am sure there must be some levels of unrefinement which may be
acceptable for bees to winter.
 
The sugar which is quoted on the 'world sugar' contracts is at a fairly
high level of refinement, I believe, and is still considered unrefined.
Nonetheless it is used as table sugar in Mexico -- at least I assume it
is the same sugar.  It is a little off white compared to US and Canadian
sugar.
 
I am quite interested in this because refined sugar goes for a lot more
money than some of the unrefined stages.
 
I don't know what beets go for, but I tried slicing a sugar beet at Taber
one time when I was driving by (They are piled in huge stacks like gravel
beside the road in the fall.) Uggghh!
 
Not very sweet at all.
 
I's sure like to hear more about this, but it would help if we could
define exactly the product we are discussing each time.  I don't know if
this is possible, but it would help.
 
Simple table sugar in on area of a country may be cane sugar, another
area may be using beet sugar, and there are overlaps.
 
Then again too, refining is an art in itself and I suspect some processes
are proprietary.
 
I wonder about minority impurities.  Jerry B's comments from this list
some time back have me requesting the water analysis from the town that
supplies the water for mixing the syrup that I buy for my bees!
 
FWIW
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                        VE6CFK
Rural Route One   Swalwell   Alberta   Canada  T0M 1Y0
Email:   [log in to unmask]    or   [log in to unmask]
Futures, Art & Honey:http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka