"Interesting to hear your observation that Brazilan bees can distinguish between the sucrose content of granulated sugars. It makes sense that they could because of the feeder studies that Seeley and others have done on different concentrations of liquid sugar solutions - bees prefer the higher sucrose levels".

Hi Bill,
I don’t know if I got you right, but VHP sugar has lower sucrose content. During sugar production the cane juice is clarified with lime to precipitate “coloring stuff”. VHP production only uses lime while for white granulated sugar sulfur dioxide (SO2) is also added. The combination of SO2 and lime results in better clarification (less color). At the end, VHP sugar has pale brown crystals and little bit lower sucrose content. It is different from demerara and brown sugar regarding molasses content.

Some beekeepers see it as a “more natural” (less processed) form of sugar. They claim better colony development using VHP when compared to white sugar, although there is no controlled study on that. May the sulfur residues play a role for bees? Or minerals due to higher ash residues?
Another important parameter is humidity. VHP has higher water content. It is known that granulated sugar is better accepted by bees if moistened. 
And thank you for the references! 

Dorr, from Brazil

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