At 11:21 +0100 2/13/99, Stefan Stangaciu wrote:
>
>        How do you know, for sure, that they have "enough of these enzymes
>in their cells"?
 
I bought a 3 pound package of bees in late December to start a hive in time
for the spring flow. I put them in a super with some drawn comb and started
feeding sugar syrup. The hive responded wonderfully and has now filled two
10 inch supers with brood and bees. They are ready for our spring flow
which is underway now.
 
>        How do you quantify this, with mathematically precision in order to
>be 100% sure of success?
 
They are sure doing well now. It certainly doesn't appear that the sugar
did them any harm. When these bees were introduced it took a couple of
weeks before I observed that they were bringing in pollen. Perhaps this was
the time it took them to locate pollen and nectar sources in their new
neighborhood. In the mean time their energy needs were filled very well by
the sugar syrup.
 
>        It is already known by everybody that Any substance processing in
>the bee body needs energy, enzymes, vitamins, nutrients and so on.
>        Why shall we not leave them enough PROPER, well selected honey for
>wintering without overwhelming them with extra-metabolical charges?
 
That's what I normally do, but with El Nino the spring time harvest was
outstanding. I got 300 lbs from one hive alone. The I lost a queen and the
hive was raided. By the time I caught it the population was low and the
stores were gone. I don't see sugar as a matter of course, but as something
to feed when honey is unavailable for whatever reason.
 
>>Bee's don't grow after they emerge, so their protein needs are low.
>
>
>    Are you sure? The nurse bees which feeds the queen and all larvae needs
>a lot of proteins to synthesize royal jelly and brood food. The "guardians"
>especially needs proteins to synthesize bee venom and so on...
 
But the nurse bee protein is not for them it's for the larvae. Since a
worker bee stings only once, it shouldn't have to synthesize bee venom but
once.
 
>>They can't raise larvae on honey alone any more than they can raise larvae
>>on sugar alone.
>
>        Did you experiment this on long term and on several colonies as is
>the case with most of the industrial beekeepers which loose up to 60% of
>their colonies during wintering?
 
No. The success of my package bees fed initially on syrup has been very good.
 
>>I just started a hive in December with no stores, feeding only refined
>>sugar. The bees are able to forage some for pollen now and are now raising
>>lots of brood. Without the refined sugar, these bee's would have died.
>
>
>        Your bees can survive as well with good, natural honey as they did
>in the last 50 millions years.
 
I'm sure, but I can buy sugar in 12 kg bags very cheaply. I had no honey to
feed them and neither did they as it was a new hive from package bees.
 
Paul
 
Paul Nicholson               Electronic Imaging Systems, Inc.
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