> Opinions vary in beekeeping and all I can do is give mine.
> I would not feed patties made with soy flour (only) & HFCS. Especially
> for
> weeks to confined bees. However I no longer feed HFCS to my bees. HFCS is
> cheaper but I believe my bees do better on sucrose and sucrose does not
> contain stachyose & raffinose.
>
> When I did the American Beekeeping Journal article on the comparison
> between
> HFCS & sucrose and longevity ( April 2007 I think?) I was provided the
> complete research by Dr. Pamela Gregory to read. I saw no problems with
> the
> research or her conclusions.
I tend to agree with Bob, although when I fed HFCS, I found it worked well.
I had my best year ever. (And no, in case you are wondering, I did not
produce any "corn honey").
Other researchers have tested HFCSs and confirmed a slightly shorter
lifespan when testing caged bees. Rob Currie is one.
The problem is that "HFCS" does not just denote just one, specific
consistent product, but a spectrum of products, each of which may have
varying consistency, including off-spec batches. This confuses those who
don't dig deeper and who cannot distinguish. A number of processes may be
used to make HFCS and some introduce ingredients which have proven on
occasion to be very harmful to bees.
There are beekeepers in the north who have found suppliers they trust, and
who use HFCS for wintering with great success; however, unless a beekeeper
knows for sure what is safe and has checked with someone like Rob, there is
risk of losing all. There are quite a few horror stories out there.
Most people just go by rumour and paint with a broad brush. Most cannot
distinguish between safe HFCS and harmful HFCS and therefore spread the word
that "HFCS is bad". For such people, it is better to stay away from HFCS.
Similarly with soy. There is a spectrum of product and for those unable to
distinguish or find out which are beneficial and which are not, again, it is
best to stay away. Unfortunately, the same is true of yeasts! and all bee
feeds, including some natural pollens.
Basically, there is nothing safe to feed for those who are not willing to do
their homework, except for commercial products where the suppliers have done
the homework for the end user by sourcing and testing the ingredients.
Even in the prepared products, though, there may be some dangerous
ingredients, since some of the small feed producers reason that bees need
cattle salts and vitamins, but lack any proof that is so, and ignore
research that shows excess lipids, salts and vitamins may be deleterious.
The long and the short of it is that there are about half a dozen well-known
suppliers and most should be safe and beneficial.
For the do it yourselfers, ingredients sourced through bee supply companies
or patty manufacturers should be proven and safe.
As for the minority constituents know to be harmful that are found in almost
all feeds, competitors tend to play on them to create fear and artificial
distinctions between products and justify their higher prices (and profits).
Simply FUD.
I would not worry about the tiny amounts of toxic sugars and enzymes found
in proven feeds. They are so minute as to be negligible IMO, and if you
look hard enough, I am sure some such thing can be found in any bee food,
especially natural pollens!
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