>>Colonies fed sugar need to be compared on amount of brood
raised, length of life of individual bees, resistance to disease and storage of surplus.

One could add to this list the degree of bee contentment - honey tastes a lot better than sugar syrup.:)  This may be the reason why bees turn down sugar syrup whenever there is a nectar flow on.  I am only a casual observer but it seems to me that bees raised during a strong nectar flow, appear more vigorous with longer wings than those raised on syrop in the late winter/ early spring.

The human analogy is: one can live on white bread but multigrain with bran tastes and envigorates better.:)

>>Do bees always have an instinct to provide themselves a balanced diet?

In the case of pollen, I understand that often bees can not differentiate between high- and low-protein pollen.

Of course, when one is starving white bread will do. :)  In basic economics, the sugar syrup may do.

Waldemar
Long Island, NY

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