From: allen <[log in to unmask]>
>What is the pH of nectar? 

Hi Allen, I think you asked the same question on beesource when i brought up the same issue....with the implication that we should be comparing nectar to syrup, not honey to syrup.

The sparse details from Sweden wrt honey stomach microbes (both in the notes i posted earlier, and in some power point I've found online with poorly labeled slides) are referring largely to conditions in the winter...when in fact, the bees would be eating honey, not nectar.

My understanding is that stored syrup reads as sugar or HFCS in lab tests (ie, it is not "converted into honey").  We read a lot about the transformation of nectar into honey (that it is more than simply being dehydrated).  I'd be curious to do some standard lab tests to see how nectar reads compared with honey, and how sugar feed reads compared to stored syrup.

In short, I don't know the ph of nectar...but presumably, nectar is only available to the bees in above freezing weather.

2:1 syrup (fall feed) is 33% water.

According to a very unscientific survey of "how to make hummingbird feed" lists 4:1 water to honey....that's 80% water?

deknow

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