REGARDING           RE>Old syrup and pollen patties
 
Gert Walter wrote:
"1) Any problem with reusing old unused sugar syrup that has mold
floating in it?  I freeze it after filtering out the mold and cleaning
the containers.  It doesn't smell fermented. 2)  Unused pollen patties
seem to be very dry.  Can they be reused as is or should they somehow
be moistened?"
 
Personally, I wouldn't reuse either the old syrup or the hard patties.  Like
everyone else, I hate to throw out possible reusable supplies, but in the
case of the syrup who knows what toxins or metabolites of the mold might have
been added to the sugar?  I would rather lose a little bit of money in sugar
than a lot in bees.
 
In the case of the pollen, I think that it would be better to discard it than
to take the chance, when rehydrating it, to have it ferment or otherwise go
bad. We don't need to take any chances with our bees' health than necessary.
They already have enough problems.
 
Ted Fischer