Andy Nachbaur says:
>      For Honey Bee's dry feeding is ok in an emergency situation,
but not so good as a regulated or metered way to feed honey bees to
increase stores or stimulate brood rearing. Though feeding dry sugar
will work and some may use it this way, but it will also burn out the
bees, or prematurely age them.
 
also:
>Feeding bees a pound of sugar solids in any form does not give you a pound
of honey replacement as the bees will use much of the energy from the sugar
up in storing it, and with dry sugar will have to fly several miles with
water for each pound of sugar fed.
 
Andy:  I enjoy your contributions, and mostly agree with you, but here I have
to disagree from my own experience.  Perhaps this may reflect the difference
between eastern and western conditions.
 
I have fed dry sugar for several years, and increase use every year.  Last
year we fed about six tons, and I thorougly believe it pays.
We use any kind of sugar we can get.  The last three years brown sugar has
been cheapest and that's been the main one.  The bees love it!
 
*Caution:  I do not recommend brown sugar for northern locations, at least
until spring, as there is too much that is indigestible, and bees cannot get
enough cleansing flights during cold weather.  Here, the bees rarely go more
than two or three days without being able to fly.
 
   With dry sugar, starting in late December or early January, the bees brood
up a little, but not too much.  There seems to be a definite advantage to
keeping them busy, and they always seem healthier, as well as stronger.  I
think the activity wears out some of the old, sick bees and gets rid of them
sooner, but that amounts to a net benefit.
 
   Here the bees never have a winter shortage of water.  All my wintering
yards are near waterways or ponds.  On rainy days, I think the sugar sops up
some of the excess moisture within the hive, again for a total benefit.
 
   Early feeding I consider to be for colony survival, but by late February,
I figure each five pounds of sugar I can induce them to consume gives me at
least a pound of bees, and better health, to boot.  That's not a bad trade,
is it? - Especially, if you can keep the labor down.
 
    It is important that the sugar be above the cluster.  We sometimes  dump
a pound or two of sugar in the back of a hive, as you say, for emergency
situations, but a lot of this can get wasted, and they won't consume or store
it on cold days.
 
    Andy, I can't knock a system that is working!   BTW, we have abundant
pollen (wild mustard, collards gone to flower, maple, etc.) for most of the
winter, so that certainly helps.  I have many times considered pollen
supplements for spring boosts, but looking at a few hives in late February or
March cures me of the idea. There is so much pollen that hives that don't
store it must be sick.
 
   (We had 18 F last night, breaking the all time record for the date by 3
degrees).  We did need some cold to prime the buds.  But there may be some
damage, as some were certainly advanced and tender from the extremely mild
winter so far.  I don't know if there was any damage to bees yet, but I don't
anticipate a lot.)
 
   We're going to have a Californian here next week, so I'm going to share you
r remarks with him, and ask his observations.
 
[log in to unmask]        Dave Green
PO Box 1215, Hemingway, SC  29554