On 2/20/2011 2:43 PM, dthompson wrote:
 >> ...>Has anyone confirmed your observations in other operations and 
confirmed
 >> >that VC works for them?
 > No and this is the strangest thing...


Since 1997 I have been using small amounts of a Vitamin C Ascorbates 
powder (Nature's Sunshine Products brand) in some of the syrup that I 
open feed to my hives (20 to 50 average). Having read a lot on 
pollination ecology when I studied nectar feeding bats, it seemed likely 
that many bee nectars had Vit C traces.  It had also helped reduce 
disease problems when mixed into the feed when I raised catfish.  I have 
never tested the pH of this product, but it is less acid than pure Vit C 
but acidifies the syrup slightly.  I also suspect that pH of feed is 
going to be found important in the future, when we've had more study of 
bee gut and pollen bread microflora.

My bees have had no treatment since some experiments with mineral oil on 
surfaces (not fogged), sugar dusting, and formic back before 2003.  The 
stock is mixed, selected for survival, refreshed annually with a few 
queens from various resistant stocks, and heavy on the Russian 
characteristics (I've brought some Russian or Russian hybrids since the 
first year they were commercially available).  Queens are mostly from 
swarm cells.  I also feed open dry pollen sub (Bee=Pro first, now Mega 
Bee) when they'll take it, and use a pollen sub/syrup/vegetable oil 
paste piped onto the bars when (if) I work them.  Due to my health and 
work there have been some hives unopened for 4-5 years that have had 5-6 
boxes on them.  Other hives winter as nucs, not hard here in the South 
Carolina Piedmont. I haven't seen anything that definitely fits the CCD 
pattern, tho the bees our club brought in about 5 years ago added an 
increased tendency to abscond if they don't like the situation.

Does the Vit C help?  I don't know.  Does it hurt?  Probably not. 
Something I am doing (or not doing) has allowed my isolated yard to 
evolve a stock of bees that generally out-survives the purchased hives, 
even in the hands of other beekeepers.  I have no idea what their honey 
production abilities are, with our perpetual droughts there are years I 
take no honey.  I do know they make more honey than dead bees....

Should I live so long as to retire and if I can keep the neuro Lyme 
suppressed, I hope to apply more of my biology training to better 
observation and maybe experimentation.  And have time to follow all the 
great Bee-L discussions...

Carolyn in SC

P.S.  In most biology, especially that with field components, the 
operation is run on a worn shoestring on whatever money is available to 
extract the most knowledge possible out of the very limited resources. 
Whether doing spill responses for the railroad, construction water 
quality monitoring, or chasing bats in old churches, the non-biology 
people around me, even the ditch diggers, were making more money than I 
or the highest paid person in my group.  Try checking on the cost of one 
pesticide sample before you worry about the piddly millions spent 
recently.    The amounts spent now are less than the baseline basic 
research that should have been ongoing since the 1980's when research 
was "privatized".  Goal driven research is always playing catch up if 
the basic biology is unknown.  Good old fashioned natural history like 
the "leg rub" observation is the foundation of all good biology.  I'm 
headed out to my hives now to look for leg rubs, thanks for that tidbit!

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