Bill,
I read your comments with GREAT interest, and am pretty much in agreement
with your opinion.

One of the things that most people just don't seem to grasp is the fact that
that at any given time, brood is being fed whatever nectar is being gathered
at that time.
This is because NECTAR, NOT HONEY, is the natural feed of a bee; and honey is
just a
stored winter feed, just like hardtack is for a sailor or K-ration for a
soldier during
a fight.

I am fortunate in that there is not much goldenrod and aster left in my
Maryland area for nectar collection, so I always feed sugar in the fall
because I requeen all colonies on September 1st and heavy "nectar" flows are
essential for good queen acceptance.  I feed 1:1 sugar syrup from Sept. 1 to
October 15th, and 2:1 sugar syrup including Fumidil-B from Oct. 15th to
November 30th.  I have rarely seen any dysentery in my colonies, but seen a
great deal in neighboring colonies.

None of this is scientifically documented, but an opinion I have developed
through
my 69 years of beekeeping observations.

By the way, the official Maryland average yearly honey yield is 29
pounds/colony;
and my 10 year average colony yield is 132 pounds/colony, but the bad year of
2001
will drop my average considerably.

George Imirie