Stan said: > So, if HFCS is very close to the same acidity as honey, and presuming that > bees are well adapted to the food that they make, why do you think that a > higher ph is an advantage, Bob (or anyone else)? I spoke with the manager of the International Foods plant a few minutes ago. He said the PH was higher in sucrose because of the thicker product. he also said many consider sucrose a more stable product for bees because (As Randy said) the risks of HMF are les when the PH is neutral. He said he rarely sells the 42% HFCS to beekeepers and looking back none to beekeepers this year. The Kansas plant does not sell 55% ( the only reasons he has ever given is that there is no demand other than possibly beekeepers in our area) He said he could do a mix if I wanted and would only mean I would need to stop the filling and weigh the truck when half full and then return back into the fill area and top off with the next product. He wondered why I would want to. He was not sure what the PH would be with such a mix. He would not give me a price quote on the products from his plant. He said I would need to call the main office in St.Louis for a daily price quote. OK. I just got off the phone with my broker in St. Louis. He had another commercial beekeeper on the other line placing an order. Today's price for sucrose is .52 cents a pound dry sugar weight. ( I paid .49 on Wednesday). He said the price will continue to rise in his opinion. He said he could send me a tanker of 55% HFCS from a northern plant but was not available filled in totes at the Kansas plant. He said today's price at the Kansas plant for 42% is .23 a pound ( liquid weight with I think slightly over 11.5 pounds to a gallon or approx. 2.65 U.S. a gallon * my figures*), He said International Foods has a locked in price for HFCS for a few months so HFCS prices should remain the same. I might add that the above are prices without the middle man ( or bee supply houses). If your bill comes from a bee supply house then its hard to say what the actual plant price is but I have been told most only add a couple cents per pound. We had over 4 inches of rain in our area yesterday! All hives were given feed with fumigillin for winter before the rain. The other Missouri beekeeper holding on the phone is starting his feeding and is faced with higher prices and soggy fields to get into. The broker just called me back and said the plant would work with us on say billing my company for a tanker load and letting all the local beeks pick up totes. The broker is supposed to call with the price savings first of next week but I doubt I will need syrup again till next spring but I like the dialog. bob *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Access BEE-L directly at: http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L