In message <3F4DBDA2.28031.859E8B@localhost>, Dave
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>   But you haven't responded to the issue of why you insultingly
>continue to accuse the beekeeping industry of (criminally)
>producing "sugar honey."
I have been thinking about the issue of feeding in the light of the many
views expressed and questions posed on this and other lists. I want to
get it right for my own students, here in Cornwall, UK. I, too have
reread the Johanssons' excellent book " Some Important Operations in Bee
Management" which I think Robin is quoting from. The expression "sugar-
honey is used on p81, in the section "Feeding to force honey into the
supers" which follows a section "Replacement feeding". I do not know if
studies made on feeding HFCS counter some of the problems reported and
cautions suggested by the Johanssons' who, after all, wrote their papers
before 1978. We do have random testing over here by Trading Standards,
and amusingly, a batch of honey a year or so ago became suspect because
of high sucrose content. Test confirmed it was not cane sugar and was
probably from borage.

BTW I have had no-one come up with a satisfactory explanation of the
high di-saccharide component of honeys assessed by school children and
published in July Apis as follows.

In message <[log in to unmask]>, Malcolm
(Tom) Sanford <[log in to unmask]> writes
>Sugars found in honey were mostly fructose (six carbon atoms) and sucrose
>(12 carbon atoms).  Also present were smaller components of larger sugars
>(18 carbon atoms).  The Michigan sample was 31 percent fructose, 55.1
>percent sucrose and 13.9 percent sugars with 18 carbon atoms.  The Arizona
>honey had slightly less fructose (30.2 percent), more sucrose (66.5
>percent) and much less of sugars with 18 carbon atoms (3.3 percent).  It
>would be interesting to see the sugar analysis for the European samples.
>My guess is that the Pine Forest honey would be greatly different, as it
>more than likely is honeydew, produced from secretions of other insects.

I was one of only 2 who commented to Tom about this. Any follow-up or
comments from the List?

My own recommendations to beginners largely follow the J's as follows:
feed in order of priority as you learn
1 colonies with less than 20 pounds of honey stores in spring and summer
(learn to assess the weight of stores in each hive opening for swarm
control and health assessment)
2 swarms after a couple of days (to reduce disease risk)
3 nuclei and new queen colonies until flying bees are bringing in
serious nectar
4 autumn colonies with less than 30 lb honey stores (novices leave honey
on to this value in supers) (40 lb if possible)
5 if you cock this up, use candy or fondant depending on timing or even
a bag of sugar in the winter with a cup of warm water upturned over the
feed hole
6 leave spring feeding until you have years of experience

Overall the J's suggest the principle "feeding should be considered a
necessary evil that is to be avoided whenever possible" (p70). In common
with other beekeepers in Cornwall, we have copious pollen most of the
year and flying weather at least intermittently throughout the winter.
We have a strong ivy flow at the moment and this can catch beekeepers
out in the spring when their bees swarm early through lack of space. I
am hopeful that having fed the bees with sucrose syrup (about 60%) to
fill the brood chamber, they will at least put the ivy up into the
supers, where I might try using it to seed set honey later this year.
They are expanding rapidly on it and hopefully will be strong in the
spring as a result. I find it curious that the ivy is often stored a bit
like fondant, soft and fine and is readily used up in the spring. The
crystallised ivy is rather hard and usually surrounds the "fondant".


--
James Kilty

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