> That said, it's my understanding that bee's have invertase in > their stomach which inverts sucrose (table sugar) to fructose and > glucose. Inverted sugar is sweeter than sucrose. Hence, it is > impossible for bees to store the syrup that I feed them as sucrose > syrup. The bee's may store the syrup that I feed them, but it > will be modified/inverted and sweeter than the syrup that I feed > them. In practice, honey always has some sucrose in it. Various regulations allow up to 10% in some specialized cases (acacia). If the invertase inverted all the sucrose, why would there always be some left? Prevailing plant, weather, soil and geographic conditions will alter the composition of the natural nectar and hence we get a wide range of variation in the outcome of honey produced from different plants/regions etc. A good example is the addition of Boron in the soil has shown to have an effect on the quanitity of Fructose in clover (t. repens) nectar (but I can't rememer whether it is more or less [fructose]). It would appear that the invertase inverts some but not all of the sucrose and the higher the amount of sucrose, the more that is left over once the "honey" is ripened. If you feed sugar (sucrose) syrup and intend selling your product in a market that regulates the amount of sucrose allowed in honey, you do so at your peril. Regards Peter Bray ---------------------------------------------------------------- Airborne Honey Ltd., PO Box 28, Leeston, New Zealand Fax 64-3-324-3236, Phone 64-3-324-3569 [log in to unmask]