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Subject:
From:
Andy Nachbaur <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 28 Jan 1998 21:07:28 -0800
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At 11:31 PM 1/28/98 -0600, you wrote:
 
>I am new to BEE-L and I love it.
 
Welcome!!
 
>I am a beginner in beekeeping and would like to know if bees can be fed
>with molasses; Could apiculture be combined with "double purpose" cattle
>raising, giving the bees the same kind of molasses that we use here to
>add to silage?
 
NO molasses, raw Mexican sugar, or natural fruit sugars. The diet
requirements of bees are different then cattle. If you could get bees to
consume many of the things cattle can the bees would have digestive
problems and if cool temperature kept them in for any extended periods of
time could become very sick and die.
 
>I would like to see each farmer here having a small apiary, but during
>the rainy season and with strong winds, bees cannot forage, and sugar is
>very expensive here.
>Another question, must the bees always be fed protein during dearth
>time, or how log can they be fed only with carbohydrates (sugar)?
>What do you think?
 
I would hope that most beekeepers would not be feeding refined sugar or
proteins to their bees unless they have a problem or some need to rear bees
when natural foods are not available and could recover the high cost of
feeding by increased income. You can not trade sugar for honey pound for
pound because the bees must convert the sugar to bees then to honey and the
beekeepers then turns the honey into  money or consumes it. Bees can
consume as much as 5-10 gallons of sugar syrup in the spring and not
produce any honey. There may be some areas of the world that bees can not
make it on their own because of short seasons or other environmental
conditions and in these areas beekeepers do feel they must feed their bees
or they just can not keep them. Some of these areas have government
programs that allow sugar for bee feeding at subsidized prices, but this is
becoming rare.
 
If you are in Mexico your bees should be able to support themselves without
the added cost of supplemental feeding. If not I would think twice about
keeping them as they can be a very expensive hobby and one most enjoyed by
the fully employed middle class who are not dependent on the bees for
income.
 
Some parts of Northern Mexico that I am fibular with beekeeping in normally
have very early spring honey flows and the bees would have to be
conditioned in the fall to be in the prime condition for the spring flow or
they will waste the main honey flow on build up their numbers. These areas
are sometimes hard hit by summer droughts and new bee pests and beekeepers
are finding it harder to stay interested in keeping bees.
 
ttul, the OLd Drone
... I said, but just to be a bee
 
 
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(w)OPINIONS are not necessarily facts. USE  AT OWN RISK!

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