Hi All.
Best of wishes during the holidays.
I have read with interest the ongoing thread about "feeding."
Some time back, I can't remember exactly when, I wrote to someone about this
subject.  I think that the answer was post on bee-L.  For those of you who read
it, please excuse my repetition and save the "flames."  I think that it is
rather important to bear in mind a couple of important factors on this subject.
1.  Bees have to "spend energy" to consume whatever is being fed to them.  That
is a
physiological requirement of all living things.  Hence, if bees are given a
"sugar solution"
it should be in proportions in which bees "spend" the least amount of energy to
digest and utilize that sugar fed.  As I said in my previous post, it has been
established that proportion to be about     :   EQUAL AMOUNTS  measure by
WEIGHT!
If excess water is fed, then the bees have to spend more energy to get rid of
the extra water. (On the other side of this consideration would be where the
bees are fed solid sugar.  The bees have to have water to dissolve the sugar, a
non-availability factor in temperate climates.)
2.  Other contributing factors to this scenario that adds "work" to the bees as
they consume the supplemental feed, should be considered carefully least we
defeat our purpose.  Needless to say, environmental and climatic conditions as
well as personal experience and preference will have some influence in different
parts of the world.
 
What we should not forget is that the formulation stated above has been proven
as soundand should not be altered.  Incidentally, I have used less water and
more sugar
successfully.  That is not too say, that I am contradicting myself.  Making the
solution closer to the consistency of honey, does not make the bees work any
more.
Best regards.
Dr. Rodriguez
Virginia Beach, VA