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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 23 Oct 2001 17:04:21 -0400
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huestis said:

>> Clearly, once one has used a frame for brood, it can no longer be used
>> in honey supers

> Why Not? The only reason for this is because the beekeeper uses
> chemicals in the hive which will end up in the honey, ect..

Exactly.  Aren't most beekeepers are forced to use at least menthol?
I guess you don't use any chems or meds.  (A sign of strong character.)
Even if one used medications only once in any one brood chamber,
those combs would be "contaminated" in my book.

> If no chemicals are used then combs can be utilized anywhere at any time.

Very true, but wow, you must have a very steady hand when uncapping to be
able to uncap without getting old brood-comb wax in with your fresh cappings!

> Why is it the the majority of beekeepers (not all) seem to
> feed their bees every year with syrup for wintering?
> If you are feeding, was the honey you harvested truely surplus?
> Would it not be easier just to move frames of honey into the brood
> chambers?
> After all it is what bees eat.

But bees eat nectar, rather than honey.

They certainly store honey for overwintering, but to eat the honey, they require
significant water.  Honey is to nectar as beef jerky is to a home-cooked meal.
The base assumption in fall/spring feedings of sugar syrup is that the bees will
store it in comb, filling in unused spaces in the brood chamber as they see fit,
and will not have time or warm enough days to evaporate it down to honey or
cap it over.  The stores are thus "more useful", in that less (or no) water is
required to "wash it down".

One might wonder why bees store highly-concentrated honey if it is not as
"ready to eat" as nectar (or sugar syrup) is.  I can only offer that honey requires
less total space, less comb, and "keeps better" (does not ferment) than nectar.

My own rationale in fall feeding is to provide some insurance against starvation.
I'd rather feed in the fall than feed in an "emergency" during a cold spring.

> Some say sugar is cheaper than honey so it is better to do profit wise.
> Hmmmm! After you buy it, then use fuel to get to the apiary, the labor
> in mixing it, ect., Do you really save? At what cost to the bees health?

This is a good point - what would happen if one removed ALL honey from a
hive in an area with no fall nectar of any significance, and fed the heck out
of it in August and September?  Has anyone tried this?  I can't imagine that
either sugar water or HFCS provides the "balanced diet" that bees really need.

        jim

        farmageddon

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