Hello Everyone: Although it is somewhat moot this late in the season, a question has cropped up in my mind. This year, for the first time, my girls were dis-interested in the sugar syrup that I feed as soon as the temps go above 40deg. At first I offered syrup left over from last fall...it was slightly fermented..but I heated it to 175deg and it seemed to regain some of the original sweet smell. This syrup was turned down flat...I had it on for a week and none of the 4 hives took any measurable amounts. Reasoning that the fermentation was the cause, I dumped all 5 gallons and mixed a fresh 2:1 batch. While small amounts were taken, for the most part it to has gone ignored. What gives?? I also feed pollen substitute, since the trees don't leaf until late APR up here (NE VT). The girls were equally unimpressed with this. There were two or three days where they did take up the pollen sub quickly. Although this spring has been just as terrible here as elsewhere the amount of precip and the cool temps seemed to have provoked the trees to yield tremendous amounts of pollen and nectar (?). All four surviving hives had some honey left from the winter. Could it be that the combination of leftover honey and high natural pollen and nectar has made feeding unnecessary? All opinions appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tim Peters, Kirby VT [log in to unmask] KirBee Apiary, Bear Bait Honey I rather be flying!