Hello Randy & All,

> Northern Calif beekeepers got hit hard by bad syrup this year.

Part of the problem (as I understand it) involves the trucking. We were
advised to check the temperature of all tanker loads on arrival. Seems some
coming a long distance have been way too hot causing problems.


>Many use 50:50 sucrose:HFCS.  some pure sucrose syrup.

These mixes have not been available to use in the Midwest but hopefully
things will change. I was surprised to hear the number of beekeepers which
have switched to sucrose already.

Do you have any info re any differences to bees between cane and beet sugar?

Both are sucrose so both do not contain toxic sugars. I did a couple posts
on BEE-L through the years about HFCS containing small amounts of toxic to
bees sugars. I was quickly put down by the HFCS lovers. Mostly by the
younger generation of commercial beekeepers which do not date back to my
era.

I was around when we only used sucrose. I remember when the HFCS sellers
entered the beekeeper marketplace. I remember when Roy Barker was asked to
look at both HFCS & sucrose and report back.

Bobby Worlycamp (not sure of his last name spelling) from Nebraska (large
commercial beekeeper) has never embrased HFCS. He tried a small amount one
season and to this day uses sucrose.

I did switch to HFCS. All I have used for quite a while. My beekeeping
partner and I get a tanker load in spring and fall which is normally enough
for us.

I did use some cane sugar when I had the freight damage sugar contract for
the nationwide "Recovery Sales" outfit. Recovery Sales got all freight
damage goods from Yellow Freight ( largest LTL hauler) & UPS at the time. A
steady flow of sugar was coming in. In fact I had to resale some of the
sugar as my warehouse was filling up.

As far as the Weslaco research I am reporting on we need to fund additional
research on HFCS. We need to find out exactly why bees live longer when fed
sucrose than HFCS.
OR
Do as many California beekeepers already have done and move to the sucrose
product. If many do then the price will come down and the availability will
improve ( the selfish reason for my article on HFCS/sucrose).

I will also be touching lightly on research comparing protein supplements to
both fresh frozen pollen and the irradiated dried pollen.

Hopefully my article will be published in the March issue. If not April ABJ
for sure.  The Weslaco research on both pollen substitutes and HFCS  have
been submitted to apidologie for publication.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison


-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---