<quotes>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 1995 00:56:38 -0500
From: "Dave Green, Eastern Pollinator Newsletter" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Dry Sugar Feed
>AN For Honey Bee's dry feeding is ok in an emergency situation,
but not so good as a regulated or metered way to feed honey bees to
increase stores or stimulate brood rearing. Though feeding dry sugar
will work and some may use it this way, but it will also burn out the
bees, or prematurely age them.
>AN Feeding bees a pound of sugar solids in any form does not give you
a poun of honey replacement as the bees will use much of the energy from
the suga up in storing it, and with dry sugar will have to fly several
miles with water for each pound of sugar fed.
Andy: I enjoy your contributions, and mostly agree with you, but here I h
to disagree from my own experience. Perhaps this may reflect the differen
between eastern and western conditions.
I have fed dry sugar for several years, and increase use every year. Last
year we fed about six tons, and I thorougly believe it pays.
We use any kind of sugar we can get. The last three years brown sugar has
been cheapest and that's been the main one. The bees love it!
<end quotes>
Hello Dave,
I can only post what I have done here in California, Arizona,
and Colorado, plus what I see other beekeepers doing. Its all my own
opinion and not in anyway a reflection on what you are doing in your
location. I have no doubts it pays you to feed granulated sugar or
brown sugar,(some form of raw cane I presume?). I am not always sure it
pays me to feed my own bees, but it can be a useful tool to keep them
going or alive in bad times. I know no reason why granulated sugar would
be different as far as bees go in any area, most of our feeding here is
in the wet season also. I don't have any idea if you have ever tried
feeding liquid invert syrups, but I have feed much dry sugar. I don't
any more because I have found the use of liquid sugars easier, faster,
and cheeper, for feeding bees and have fed it that way for many years
past to my bees with out harm to the bees. It does require extra
investment and modification of bee equipment and a source of liquid
sugars. With the advent of inverted corn syrups a competitor for sugars
syrup, we have had to rethink our bee feeding modalities and most
beekeepers this area have switched to liquid feeds. Northern California
queen and package beekeepers did this several years before the average
commercial beekeeper. My own observations have been that some inverted
corn syrups are more like nectar then just sugar syrups, and have fed
mixtures and straight inverted corn syrups for years. If you do any
protein feeding the inverted corn syrup also makes patties that is much
easier to handle then patties made with just sugar syrup.
There is nothing wrong with feeding granulated sugar I started
out feeding it myself and have unloaded many semi's in the old days, not
a fun job. I relate the use of bag sugar with the use of five gallon
honey cans, both required back breaking work to move them around the
honey barn. We now have our sugar delivered in an insulated stainless
steal tanker loads and purchase it on bid from the various producers
and brokers. One local beekeeper handles it all for the rest of us
and fills our cans at cost. I use to be that one, but have passed
that job off to one of the younger bee men as I am reduced to a
overgrown hobbyist myself. The truck driver unloads it and we don't have
to be there. Most commercial beekeepers who are set up for syrup feeding
have one or more 4,000 gallon tanks so they can accept delivery of a
full truck load. It is delivered hot and my main tank is inside and
insulated so the syrup stays warm for about a week. Its easier to use
when warm, no advantage to the bees.
The most popular way to use this syrup is to use one gallon cans
and can lids that have a hole that allows the bee's to take down the
gallon in about a week, giving them the stimulation of a slow flow,
1/2 to 1 pound per day. Our bee hive tops are flat and have a hole
bored in them to support the neck of these cans. We have other can lids
that allow them to take more for fall feeding. Other beekeepers have
inside feeders and will take the syrup to the bee yards with a small
tank on the back of their truck with a delivery system to fill the
inside feeders. Most of us use the gallon cans, and the local queen
breeders use one liter plastic soda bottles to fed queen nuc's. We haul
the can's to the bee yards on heavy pick ups, 3/4 to 1 ton class, 4 to 6
pallets at a time. One good man can put out 6 pallets of 96 cans in a day
if feeding only. With our can filling system, a pump and 4 can filler on
the end of a hose one man can fill about 400 cans an hour. All our cans
are stored in old hive bodies on pallets, 8 cans to the box, double
decked on the pallets. The average hive is fed 4 to 5 times per season.
We feed mostly to produce more brood and bees, but I have also
have fed to stimulate bees to gather more pollen from plants that were
not producing nectar, with good results and added production of pollen
in the traps. In California it is necessary to replace large numbers of
hives we need all the brood we can get to do this. Many local beekeepers
ship hives out of state for the summer and they make these hives up
after the almond bloom with brood and young queens, or requeen hives
that have most of the brood removed. They want good singles and not
bombers for the trip north as the bees will have additional build up
time when they get there and the cost of swarm control with big hives
may be greater then a good single with a young queen.
Like anything there are down sides. Beekeepers do form habits
that are hard to change. Feeding any sugar should not be done without
some expectations of reward for the beekeepers costs and efforts. As the
price of sugar goes up less sugar is fed. One year the sugar
price went out of sight. I had the opportunity to feed imported honey
and used several car loads that year. Would you believe though this
honey was beautiful honey that any beekeeper would be proud to have
produced, it was not as good for feeding bees as the same beekeepers
would argue, then feeding liquid invert sugars. Every drum was the same,
it was not a question of quality. The bees just seemed to do better on
the sugar syrup. *WARNING* Feeding sugar syrup to real weak hives or
queen less hives may result in their death. In a normal bee yard there
is always going to be what we call "dinks", and personally find this a
good and economical way to identify them in some situations. Most
beekeepers know what to do with dead hives, but are never sure what to
do with the dinks that can cost you more in time and money then setting
up a new hive.
ttul Andy-
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