Back in the 60s, Bailey was the first to trial HFCS, Honey and sucrose
(cane sugar) for overwintering in cold climates and sucrose was first, HFCS
second and honey third. The honey was third because of HMF and ash content.
That study was where I learned about not boiling the syrup to dissolve the
sucrose as well as not adding Cream of Tartar. Both invert the sugar which
is bad for bees.Cream of Tartar was an additive in my old issue of The Hive
and the Honey Bee and still shows up in syrup and candy recipes for
bees.The harm is about 10% which is almost not noticeable after a long
winter and why it was never questioned until Bailey.

There have been several studies since and all arrive at the same conclusion
about sucrose, HFCS and honey in that order. The key is "for
overwintering". For normal feed, honey is first because of its other sugars
and minerals, the same things that make it detrimental for winter feed. The
"Fat Bee" that Randy mentioned a while back (Thanks) has a good writeup on
sucrose/sugar as a winter feed with lots of studies and data.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html