Back in the 60s, Bailey was the first to trial HFCS, Honey and sucrose (cane sugar) for overwintering in cold climates and sucrose was first, HFCS second and honey third. The honey was third because of HMF and ash content. That study was where I learned about not boiling the syrup to dissolve the sucrose as well as not adding Cream of Tartar. Both invert the sugar which is bad for bees.Cream of Tartar was an additive in my old issue of The Hive and the Honey Bee and still shows up in syrup and candy recipes for bees.The harm is about 10% which is almost not noticeable after a long winter and why it was never questioned until Bailey. There have been several studies since and all arrive at the same conclusion about sucrose, HFCS and honey in that order. The key is "for overwintering". For normal feed, honey is first because of its other sugars and minerals, the same things that make it detrimental for winter feed. The "Fat Bee" that Randy mentioned a while back (Thanks) has a good writeup on sucrose/sugar as a winter feed with lots of studies and data. Bill Truesdell Bath, Maine *********************************************** 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