Michael Palmer wrote:
>
> George, have you ever fed high fructose corn syrup? Impurities?? I've fed many
> thousands of gallons of HFCS over the last 15 years or so, and have yet to see
> dysentery problems.

HCFS is not as good as granulated sugar for bee feed. But it is not as bad
as other feeds. But if not prepared properly, can be deadly.
Studies by Baily writing in the 1966 Journal of Apiculture Research in
England showed that all the other winter feeds caused increased bee
mortality to some degree. In many cases, you will never see it because the
normal time for feeding is spring buildup and it is warm enough for bees to
void as well as die outside the hive. When you are talking about a buildup
of thousands, some hundreds will never be seen by the bee keeper.
The studies included honey, sugar, sugar with additives and HCFS. The final
conclusion was sugar dissolved in water was the best feed, as long as the
solution is greater than 30% sugar. Too thin a syrup was bad. Which is why
honey that crystallizes easily is bad for overwintering. The bees eat the
non-crystalized, diluted syrup. Even boiling was worse than dissolving at
temp. High HMF seemes to be the culprit in causing problems. Some HCFS, if
processed incorrectly or by acid hydrolysis will have high concentrations
of HMF wich will bring on dysentary and bee deaths.
We have gone over this often in the past, and most who see no problem live
in climates that allow winter clensing flights.
Like politics, All beekeeping is local.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME