<<<<< I have heard of some producers feeding syrup to their bees year round
to increase honey production by the bees placing this material with honey in
the comb.  With honey being higher priced than sugar they are making a
killing on their product and the bees are doing the work.  Is this practice
illegal in your area or just immoral?>>>>>
<<<<To my understanding, nectar is sucrose, a di-sacharide (sp?) which is
then converted by the bees with invertase enzymes into mono-sacharides
(again sp?).  Sugar is also sucrose,so the resulting product should be
honey, not sugar syrup. This is my understanding - what do the long time
experts have to say?>>>>>
 
Re the above.  No doubt bees can invert sugar as you state but they cannot
turn sugar into honey.  Legally honey is made from nectar collected by the
bees from nectaries, intra or extra-floral.  Of course, sugar is derived
from plant sap as is nectar.  Unfortunately it has no aroma and no taste and
introducing it into honey deliberately is illegal and a fraud.
It can happen accidentally when the bees move surplus stores upstairs during
the spring expansion but the dilution would not be great.  After the war,
before most of you thought of beekeeping, we had sugar rationing for many
years.  Beekeepers were allowed extra for autumn and spring feeding.  This
sugar was sold with a green dye to prevent it from being used for other
purposes.  Unfortunately green honey started to appear in the supers ( we do
not mix brood and super combs) and the green dye had to be abandoned.
Sid P.
For Rick, as he in not sure, two cc  in saccharide here.
_________________________________________________________________
Sid Pullinger                    Email :  [log in to unmask]
36, Grange Rd                Compuserve:  [log in to unmask]
Alresford
Hants SO24 9HF
England