> Opinions vary in beekeeping and all I can do is give mine.
> I would not feed patties made with soy flour (only) & HFCS.  Especially 
> for
> weeks to confined bees. However I no longer feed HFCS to my bees. HFCS is
> cheaper but I believe my bees do better on sucrose and sucrose does not
> contain stachyose & raffinose.
>
> When I did the American Beekeeping Journal article on the comparison 
> between
> HFCS & sucrose and longevity ( April 2007 I think?) I was provided the
> complete research by Dr. Pamela Gregory to read. I saw no problems with 
> the
> research or her conclusions.

I tend to agree with Bob, although when I fed HFCS, I found it worked well. 
I had my best year ever.  (And no, in case you are wondering,  I did not 
produce any "corn honey").

Other researchers have tested HFCSs and confirmed a slightly shorter 
lifespan when testing caged bees.  Rob Currie is one.

The problem is that "HFCS" does not just denote just one, specific 
consistent product, but a spectrum of products, each of which may have 
varying consistency, including off-spec batches.  This confuses those who 
don't dig deeper and who cannot distinguish.   A number of processes may be 
used to make HFCS and some introduce ingredients which have proven on 
occasion to be very harmful to bees.

There are beekeepers in the north who have found suppliers they trust, and 
who use HFCS for wintering with great success; however, unless a beekeeper 
knows for sure what is safe and has checked with someone like Rob, there is 
risk of losing all.  There are quite a few horror stories out there.

Most people just go by rumour and paint with a broad brush.  Most cannot 
distinguish between safe HFCS and harmful HFCS and therefore spread the word 
that "HFCS is bad".  For such people, it is better to stay away from HFCS.

Similarly with soy.  There is a spectrum of product and for those unable to 
distinguish or find out which are beneficial and which are not, again, it is 
best to stay away.  Unfortunately, the same is true of yeasts!  and all bee 
feeds, including some natural pollens.

Basically, there is nothing safe to feed for those who are not willing to do 
their homework, except for commercial products where the suppliers have done 
the homework for the end user by sourcing and testing the ingredients.

Even in the prepared products, though, there may be some dangerous 
ingredients, since some of the small feed producers reason that bees need 
cattle salts and vitamins, but lack any proof that is so, and ignore 
research that shows excess lipids, salts and vitamins may be deleterious.

The long and the short of it is that there are about half a dozen well-known 
suppliers and most should be safe and beneficial.

For the do it yourselfers, ingredients sourced through bee supply companies 
or patty manufacturers should be proven and safe.

As for the minority constituents know to be harmful that are found in almost 
all feeds, competitors tend to play on them to create  fear and artificial 
distinctions between products and justify their higher prices (and profits). 
Simply FUD.

I would not worry about the tiny amounts of toxic sugars and enzymes found 
in proven feeds.  They are so minute as to be negligible IMO, and if you 
look hard enough, I am sure some such thing can be found in any bee food, 
especially natural pollens!

 

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