In a message dated 8/16/04 9:29:36 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< Science is not to be disputed. I have heard of but not seen of studies that

say the opposite. I did read of one article, in the last year in ABJ, that

was recommending honey over sugar and hcfs. I guess it all depends on who

you listen to, and really though, how you manage the bees and the queens.


 . ..   Keith Malone, Chugiak, Alaska USA,  >>

I, with great reluctance, have attempted to "stay aloof" to this subject, but
just
can't anymore.  It reminds me of the good advice of never discussing politics
or
religion, because you can't win; but I will take one "stab" at convincing all
that
bees winter best on plain sugar, and worse on ANY honey that granulates
easily,
such as goldenrod and/or aster.

I am OLD, a retired scientist, started my first colony in 1932 (72 year ago)
under
the leadership of Dr. James I. Hambleton, CHIEF apiarist of the U. S.
(Shimanuki's
predecessor).  Never interested in honey production, but only interested in
good
colony management techniques, I owned between a 50-135 colonies for most of
the last 50 years until 5 strokes during the last decade have forced me back
to just 20 colonies which I manage and work from a golf cart, because I can no
longer walk.
Today was the last day of my 9 day long County Fair, where I put on 4
demonstra-tions/day of opening colonies of bees, finding the queen, showing her the
audience
and I am dressed in shoes, shorts and tee-shirt with NO VEIL.  I got one
sting in
these 36 demonstrations; done ONLY to prove to the public that apis mellifera
is
defensive only and not aggressive as shown in "killer" bee movies.  Having
worked
and studied apis mellifera scutellata in both Panama and Venezuela, I know
that the
AHB is a bee with a "bad attitude"; but South American beekeepers are
harvesting
tons of honey and using different management techniques than we American
beekeepers are used to.  The point is that those beekeepers HAD TO CHANGE
their
management after 1957 when "scutellata" was accidentally released.

CHANGE?  In 1900 (just 100 years ago) most babies were born at home, NOT in a
hospital.  Penicillin, although discovered in 1928, was not used until
treating
World War II soldiers in 1942-45.  Keith Malone, Bill Truesdale, and I could
not
"converse" 20 years ago, because computers were unknown.  Today, in my bee
"cage"
at the FAIR, I conversed via my cell phone with my new 75 year old financee in
Las Vegas, NV.  Come on Guys, TIME changes things, and you cannot live in 2004
using the same methods, or believing in them, that were the "Bible" 20-30
years
ago!  Although often SLOWLY, science continues to always move FORWARD and
providing betterment to every researched investigation; in spite of the fact
that
science has not yet found the proper treatment for the Varroa mite, as
science as
not yet found a cure for human cancer; but GIVE US TIME.

Back to the subject of wintering on goldenrod honey, or any crystallizing
honey, or
ANY honey - and those facts compared to wintering on sugar syrup feeding!  I,
being
a scientist, have to remind the reader of just what is HONEY, as well as just
what is SUGAR (that white stuff that you sweeten coffee every morning), and
just what is NECTAR; and lastly, what do bees EAT as their FAVORITE FOOD.  The
choice food of the bee is NECTAR, and NOT HONEY as most people might answer.
HONEY is a winter SURVIVAL food for the bee, just as hardtack was for the
sailor or the K-ration for the soldier "stuck in a fox-hole" for a day.  What is
nectar?  Regardless of just what plant provided the nectar, it is primarily
75%-80% water, 20%-23% SUCROSE, and 1%-2% "Unknown things".  AND YOU REMEMBER
THOSE 1%-2% "UNKNOWN THINGS", because that is where the trouble lies in feeding
honey.  I have give you a lesson in chemistry.  There are 100's of different
chemical SUGARS.  That one that you use in your coffee or cooking is SUCROSE, a
multi-carbon disaccharide.  It is also the problem of a diabetic (my dead wife
had diabetes), because the body can't "handle" this disaccharide until it is
broken down into "simple one carbon saccharides like glucose and fructose", in
medical terminology, "blood sugars".  The enzyme, invertase splits SUCROSE
into the simple sugars of GLUCOSE and FRUCTOSE, which is HONEY.  In nature,
GLUCOSE is a solid, whereas FRUCTOSE is a liquid.  Depending on the nectar source,
when the SUCROSE is chemically reduced to the simple sugars of glucose and
fructose, one nectar might be high in glucose and low in fructose, or vice-versa.
.  Those nectars, such as goldenrod or aster, break down into high GLUCOSE
sugars which normally are solid, and hence granulate out of their dissolvment in
liquid FRUCTOSE.  Now, that 1%-2% Unknown Things in nectar "come
into play", for they are what is left dissolved in the liquid fructose.

Here is a colony of bees beginning the long winter sojourn of just surviving
until
spring, and the goldenrod honey crystallizes in the comb.  It is 30°-40°
outside,
so bees cannot get any water to liquefy the crystallized GLUCOSE, so they
"dine on"
the liquid FRUCTOSE and those 1%-2% UNKNOWN THINGS that were part of the
nectar gathered back in last summer.  Bees don't have any PEPTO-BISMOL or
IMMODIUM available to relieve that upset stomach or control diarrhea, so they are
SICK, get weak, or may even die.  That is PRETTY SIMPLE, isn't it?

Let us compare all of the above discussion to the feeding of just plain old
garden
variety SUGAR (5 pounds for $1.59 in the grocery store).  This is just plain
old
SUCROSE made from sugar cane, beet sugar, or even extracted from starches, but
it does not have those 1%-2% UNKNOWN THINGS that nectar might have, and IT
DOES
NOT CRYSTALLIZE IN THE COMB, hence being liquid available all winter long to
the
bees as food.

Forget what someone wrote in ABJ about honey is better winter food than
sugar, and pay attention what paid eminent scientists (dare not name any in fear of
NOT
naming some famous bee researchers) have found by scientific research.  The
facts
are VERY CLEAR that plain sugar syrup is far and away the best winter feed
that
any bee can get, far better than any honey!  I HAVE SAID IT!

Forget "I have said it!", and ask yourself WHY most commercial beekeepers
(whose
income is dependent on the success of their bees) don't winter their bees on
honey,
but winter them on heavily fed sugar?  Go to the meetings of American
Beekeepers
Federation of Honey Producers Association and ASK them about wintering bees on
sugar syrup.  No doubt some of you argumentative souls are going to reply
that these
honey producers feed sugar because honey prices are high right now; but I am
going
to ask you do you think you know more than the research scientists?  If you
say,
"Yes", I quit, and maybe the "trees in the forest" will listen to you.

I'm TOO OLD for this argumentive "crap", so I quit, and wish every reader a
fine
year.

George Imirie, Ph.D. Scientist
Certified Master Beekeeper
Author of George's PINK PAGES
Author of American Beekeeping Federation Newsletter HOBBYIST TIPS
Past President of Maryland State Beekeepers

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