Stan Sandler wrote:

> I also do not understand why a hardened sugar product makes excellent
> winter feed, when granulated honey or syrup does not.

Here we go again.

I would put the order from best to worst: sugar syrup- fondant (which is
better called a soft candy than hard sugar product) - granulated honey.

Check the commercial beekeepers and they feed predominately sugar syrup
or HFCS for winter feed. It is the feed that will be in the cells for
use by the bees over the winter and is the best winter feed.

Fondant is fine but requires an additional change of state, caused by
moisture in the hive which liquefies it. I use it for spring feed, but
not for winter. It is a good supplemental feed and my guess is, for
those who feed it in the fall, it does not come into play until the late
winter/early spring if the bees went into the winter with normal stores.

Plus, fondant is more expensive than either sugar syrup or HFCS. It
makes little sense to use it as a fall feed but is excellent as a late
winter, early spring feed since it does not promote early foraging by
the colony, as syrup might. It has saved many colonies of bees when used
  this way.

The problem with granulated honey is that it can go from granulated to
liquid in stages so fermentation of the honey can take place, which is
harmful to the overwintering bees. The Hive and the Honey Bee has an
excellent description of the chemistry involved.

To prepare sugar syrup, it is best not to boil it but dissolve the sugar
in warm water. However, the harm to the bees is still not that great if
boiled (I use to boil it). We are talking degree, something measurable
in the lab but probably not noticed in the real world, so not a major
problem. But why boil it if you do not have to?

I would not feed heated (boiled) honey to a colony for any kind of feed,
winter or summer. Sugar and HFCS are cheap and not harmful.

As far as the "caramelization" of honey in a boiling water bath, I will
leave that to others. The taste changes but I am not sure if you could
call it caramelization in cooking terminology, since, with sugar, you
also have a different physical structure (solid), while the honey is
remains in a liquid state. I would call it "burnt" which is a term I
have heard from others (and is also used to describe caramelization-
burnt sugar, so I think we are in the "what is Fondant" question again).
That is only my opinion, so someone else can give you a technical response.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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