>> 1) There is a very simple and well-known process for
>>    the metabolization of sugar, honey, fructose, and
>>    other carbohydrates.
>> 2) To simplify, your body can't really tell the difference
>>    between a Life-Saver candy and a spoonful of honey.
>>
>> 3) To go further, I am glossing over only a few details if
>>    I say that your body can't tell the difference between
>>    sugar, honey, HFCS, and a potato.

Well tiny, infinitesimal details, smaller and pickier than most people care
to think about, is how we managed to hit the moon and come back instead of
taking a trip to the sun.

Painting quickly, with a wide brush like that, we'll never paint a Mona
Lisa.  Might get a "Voice of Fire", tho'.  I suppose it is a matter of
taste.

> So, maybe there are people whose makeup allows them to handle one
> isomer but not another... etc.

Bill gets the point.  In a nutshell, regardless of all our sophistry, the
plain fact is that we don't know.  We don't even know what we don't know.
Bears some reflection .

The questions are out there.  When they come back, the answers they bring
could bite us.

Also, we are selling, as much as anything, not just honey, but a story.  It
would be nice if it proves to be completely true.  It might, but not if we
capitulate, oversimplify and lose all those pesky little details that set us
apart from mass-produced refined sweetners -- and potatoes.

>> Bottom line, I'm going to feed my bees rather than let them
>> starve, and I'm not going to overfeed and perhaps sully my
>> crop with sugar

If you feed your bees sugar, *some* is guaranteed to wind up in the honey.
YMMV.  I really don't want to get into all the details of how much brood
chamber honey (or feed) has been *proven* to travel upstairs in some cases,
but it is more than a thimblefull.  Is it bigger than a breadbox?  I'll let
someone else answer that.

> The bottom line is that sugar "allergies" are really not a problem for
> the general population, and even those who proclaim a sugar allergy
> seem to be able to function well, even if they eat it.

That is true, and reassuring.

Robin brought up and nursed ths topic, a topic most beekeepers prefer to
avoid, or gloss over, and I thank him for it.

In the future, this question, and the questions that revolve around it, may
prove suddenly be a big deal.  A little conscious-raising right now can't
help but be a good thing.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com
Bah!  Humbug!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::