The debate on whether sugar syrup is better than honey will long go on.
However  I believe that winter survivability and early spring build up
is much more influenced by the  amount of pollen which the bees manage
to pack away in autumn.

Here in Scotland we have a late nectar and pollen source called Ling
Heather which produces a much sought after honey which is characterised
by being strong tasted and high in protein. It has a very thixotropic
consistency.The bees are normally moved to hilly moorland areas for the
heather.
Even when there is no great surplus the bees fill the brood frames and
provide themselves with a good amount of winter stores.
However on occasion I have taken surplus frames of heather honey and fed
it to colonies which were not put to the heather and this has always led
to trouble with dysentery and on occasion colony death. It seems that
heather honey is ok as a winter feed but only for bees which have
gathered heather in the autumn and gradually become used to it. In this
special case honey seems to be not better than sugar.
Has any other heather area beekeepers noticed this?
Naturally I no longer feed heather honey to "non heather gatherers"

Alan Riach
Edinburgh

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