> The principal fault with all honey that I am acquainted with, except
> basswood, is that it contains some pollen that is carried into the honeycups
> of the flowers by the wind or by insects, and then it is taken out
> with the nectar and becomes mixed with the honey, where it has a very
> injurious effect on the bees during the winter. This pollen is very noticeable
> in our large honey-tanks when they are nearly full of extracted
> honey, as it rise's to the top, forming a scum sometimes two inches thick.
>
> This, when mixed with the winter stores, is quite likely to cause dysentery
> before the bees are taken from their winter quarters in the spring.
> Now, with sugar syrup, since there is no foreign substance it is
> practically all digested, and the bees come from their winter quarters
> dry and clean, leaving no marks on the snow or their hives after their
> long confinement. This one advantage derived from sugar syrup, of itself
> alone, would far more than pay for the trouble of late fall feeding.
>
> But there is another advantage gained by substituting sugar syrup
> in the place of honey. If it requires about 20 lbs. of honey to winter a
> colony, this additional surplus would be worth at wholesale about $1.50.
> Now, in its place, if we used 14 lbs. of sugar to make 21 lbs. of very thick
> syrup, costing about 75 cents, or half the amount the honey will bring,
> there is a saving of over $400 In an apiary of 600 colonies. Besides the
> bees are given a much safer and better winter food.
>
> We have been so well pleased with our experience along this line,
> and the experience of these noted bee-keepers, that we are now wintering
> some 200 colonies almost wholly on sugar syrup.
1909 Alexander's Writing on Practical Bee Culture
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