> One study of this, if I recall correctly, found that bees were attracted to
> the salt-free extract of the dung, rather than the salt itself.

That is interesting.  I suppose it would be hard to make universal
conclusions, though, since the deficiencies in different situations
might vary widely.

It occurs to me, too, that we have been talking about acidity in
syrups and buffering, but the damaging effects, I should think, are
due to ions, not salts per se, since salts dissociate in solution.

It is an interesting topic.  I recall a decade or so ago, we were
discusssing this with Andy Nachbaer and at that time some were using
salts in their bee feeds.  I tried it too, but than I thought, "Whoa.
Do I know what I am doing?".  Who really knows what salts bees need
and who says they are not getting enough?  After all, I am NOT feeding
caged bees.  I'm merely trying to supplement the natiral diet and fill
in a bit when things get lean temporarily, like overnight or during a
windy, rainy, cool week.

I stopped, and now only feed what is *proven* to be beneficial, and
not what some of us might hypothesize bees should need.

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