> Bailey writing in the 1966 Journal of Apiculture Research on *The 
> Effect of Acid-Hydrolyzed Sucrose on Honeybees* found that sucrose 
> candy made through acid hydrolysis killed bees because of HMF. Heated 
> (boiled) honey also killed bees through dysentery. Older honey (six 
> years old) caused bee deaths. Crystallized honey which could not be 
> fully liquefied by the bees also caused dysentery. Bailey also found 
> that  Cream of Tartar added to sugar and water and boiled for 3 
> minutes  increased bee deaths  but not to the extent that acid 
> hydrolyzed sucrose did. Other sugars that caused high numbers of bee 
> deaths were unrefined (raw) sugar and partially refined sugar which would include brown and dark sugars.

The above does not gel with my results. Admittedly not a great study. 2 winters ago I put commercial fondant on 1/2 my nucs [20] and the sugar patties - from the recipe I posted recently - on the other 1/2 [21] nucs. I had survival of 70% on the fondant and 80% on the sugar patties. Last winter I used the sugar patties exclusively on my nucs [45] and had 100% survival. All the nucs were fed 2:1 sugar syrup for a month before cold weather. When it got too cold to feed I put the sugar or fondant on the nucs. In the spring all nucs were consuming the patties and I had to replace many before pollen/nectar were available. All nucs both years received Mann Lake Bee Pro pollen supplement starting in early April. I wonder if the "sucrose candy" was also heated [common to make candy whether hydrolyzed or not]? Could explain the difference.  I question how much HMF is produced by inverting the sugar with vinegar and citric acid, but I can find no studies on that.
cam

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