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Mon, 31 Jan 2022 11:11:03 -0500 |
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> other than bees don't do that well on a diet of pure sugar syrup
But they do just great in Maine for winter feed (as the bees do in cold
climates with pure sugar syrup). In fact sucrose syrup is the beat of all
winter feeds including honey. Bailey showed that many years ago.
Now if you extrapolate this to all year long, then the statement is
correct.
Winter bees need to poop eventually. If there is no Jan/Feb thaw, then they
will poop in the hive and they get dysentery. That info has been around for
a long time. Same with honeydew honey. It is in the Hive and the Honey Bee,
so is certainly not absent from the literature. George Imire talked about
it in his Pink Pages.My bees suffered from honeydew and it was shown to me
by Tony Jadczak some thirty years ago. The honeydew in my area is not
directly harmful to bees but it does have a high ash content so will cause
dysentery if the bees cannot rid themselves of it. Also, it does not dry
well so many cells are not capped and go through the winter uncapped. The
honey ferments which adds to the bees' woes. The bees come out of the
winter barely alive but can make it which is why you do not hear much about
it, since they are "alive".
I have often spoken of George Imire's winter management for fall honey. In
essence it forces the bees to winter on low particulate honey and they do
exceptionally well. You take off the fall honey and I can say that honeydew
honey is very good tasting honey. It also stays liquid, or mostly liquid,
for a very long period- years in fact- and is still great honey.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine
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