Christine Gray wrote:

> It remains something of a puzzle why a group on this list is so insistent on
> crushing any idea that natural honey could possibly be more than flavoured
> sugar and , by extension, that sugar is as good a feed for bees as natural
> honey.  You claim knowledge of nutrition and medical practice - I would have
> thought that , as a professional, u would read up the scientific papers (
> over 200 references in Honey and Healing) and take up the issues with the
> scientists who did the work. Instead u seem only to want to restrict debate
> by deriding the concepts in principle, unread.

You are combining two issues into one - that honey is the best feed for
bees and scientific papers on wound treatment shows that statement is
true. They are not connected. A person can live on cheerios and nothing
else but you would not use it to treat wounds. You can treat wounds with
iodine, but I would not recommend it for breakfast.

You ask for facts, so let us look at some.


1. Scientific studies in England showed white sugar is the best winter
feed. HFCS was second and honey third.

2. Almost all enzymes in honey are there because of the bees and not the
plant.

3. Bees add enzymes (invertase) to convert sucrose to dextrose, levulose
and other sugars.

4. Some plant nectars have higher sucrose (which is the main sugar in
nectar) concentrations than others.

5. Higher concentrations of sucrose means that there is less time needed
to drive off water to bring the nectar to the proper honey density.

6. Less time means that the enzymes have less time to work, so it takes
longer to convert sucrose when concentrations are higher. So you get
different concentrations of enzyme byproducts in honey mostly because of
the initial concentrations of sucrose.

7. Another key enzyme is glucose oxidase. Its concentration will
determine the difference between most honeys and their efficacy in wound
treatment. (It is an interesting enzyme. It keeps honey from fermenting
by making hydrogen peroxide at any honey/water interface. So it creates
hydrogen peroxide at the contact point of honey and a wound, and the
wound is continually awash in Hydrogen peroxide as long as there is
plenty of glucose oxidase.)

8. There are several nectar sources that sicken and even kill bees.
There are several floral sources that are harmful to the bees for
overwintering.

You can get verification of each of these points in most comprehensive
books (Hive and Honey Bee is where I found most. The first was from an
article I read and have posted many times on the BeeL).

So for wound treatment... different honeys will be more effective than
others, mostly because of the initial nectar concentration and the time
for enzymes to work. Sugar fed directly will probably be the worst not
because it is pure sucrose but because of its concentration (compared to
nectar)when fed to bees.

Super saturated solutions of sugar are currently used for wound
treatment. Bacteria have a difficult time surviving in such. Honey adds
hydrogen peroxide to the mix. Sugar does not so honey is better for
wound treatment.

But supersaturated solutions of sugar are seldom used. They are messy,
labor intensive and there are much better alternatives. Honey is no
better in this regard (and I have used it after a major operation). You
will find it used in countries that cannot afford treatments that you
will find in the US. It is not mainstream but a fringe treatment.

As far as feed for bees, sucrose is broken down by the enzymes provided
by bees. Sucrose from nectar or sucrose from sugar cane is sucrose.
Sucrose is treated the same by a bee's enzymes no matter what its
source. But the enzyme products are different mostly because of initial
nectar or sugar syrup concentrations. Highly concentrated nectar can
have the same main products as concentrated syrup after processing by
the bees enzymes.

1 - Therefore, as shown by studies, all honey is not the same. Cane
sugar solutions are. All honeys are not safe for bees. Cane sugar
solutions are. Bees convert sucrose the same way no matter what the
source as long as concentrations are the same. Bees overwinter best on
cane sugar syrup as a winter feed. HCFS is next and honey last.

(I overwinter my bees on honey, but not fall honey. I learned that error
early in my beekeeping experience. There are may around me who do not
worry about fall honey and claim good overwintering for their bees.
Survival is not the same as good overwintering. My bees did survive but
their honey crops were 1/5 what they are now. I know several beekeepers
who feed sugar and their honey yields are the same as mine.)

2-Therefore  honey is a better wound treatment than pure supersaturated
sugar solutions. Some honeys are better than others. In fact, honey from
bees fed nothing but cane sugar solutions is equivalent to honey from
plant nectar with equivalent sucrose concentrations and would be as
effective in wound treatment.

(In the case of most of the studies, it is honey against honey/sugar
syrup and not against its efficacy compared to modern techniques and drugs.)

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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