It has been noted that any other than whitetable sugar
is no good as bee food.IN some cases it destroys the
colony.
vince b constable
 
 
 
 
>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
>
>