Rob Green wrote:

> I guess the issue is the relative badness of the different sugar feeds, 
> and whether HFCS is detectable specifically.
> 
> Folks, this HFCS issue isn't going to go away. It could have an impact 
> on our sales, and more importantly, if HFCS is generally considered 
> unhealthy by the marketplace (rightly or wrongly so) then it's NOT going 
> to help the reputation of honey.

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8003-2003Mar10?language=printer

This article from the Washington Post is balanced and explains the issue with HFCS. You may have to 
register.

My post on fructose/glucose and sucrose in both HCFS and honey was to show that HCFS is not a 
problem as a winter feed. A little understanding of the product our bees deliver would show that if 
you make HCFS a health problem (it is not) then honey, because honey has the same sugars, is also a 
health problem.  If you think that will not happen then you have not read some of the other part of 
the fringe in the organic world populated by PETA and others of their ilk who are against beekeeping 
and love to boycott honey because of slave-keeping beekeepers.

HCFS is an issue to beekeepers only in the adulteration of honey when it is mixed and sold as pure 
honey. That is an affront to God, nature and the FDA. This has been discussed often and insightfully 
here on the list. Jim alluded to it in his post about the detectability of HCFS in honey. (BTW, beet 
sugar is harmful to bees a a feed.)

When it is used as a scare tactic by some to show that only organic honey is good, then you have to 
remove fructose from honey, for that is the supposed "deadly" component of HCFS that harms people. 
In essence, you kill honey as a "health" food since it is no better than corn syrup. And the good 
old "white death #1", which is white sugar (white death #2 is white bread), becomes the sweetener of 
choice for the health conscious. Plus, cane sugar is actually the best winter feed for bees. HCFS is 
second and honey is one of the worst. White sugar is pure sucrose. Funny thing is, our own gut 
breaks it down, not unlike our bees, to fructose and glucose. The problem with sugar, honey and HCFS 
is excess consumption, not what is in it. Pizza is one of the most balanced foods, but in excess we 
will all be balloons. Same with cheerios, as was shown in Consumer Reports.

The problem with our bees is they are a group of mini-chemical factories which covert sucrose to 
glucose and fructose. Those evil insects are poisoning our children- if you push they hype about 
HCFS. The real issue with HCFS is it is too good at what it does (be more sweet tasting than honey 
or white sugar (sucrose) and has a great lobby along along with the sugar lobby. Corn sweetener is 
cheaper than cane sugar in the US only because of the import restrictions on cane sugar to protect 
both the corn and cane sugar industries. If we remove those restrictions, the price of sugar would 
plummet and soft drinks would be made from cane sugar (as in Mexico, where people buy Coke (the 
drink not the drug) and bring it back into the US (both the drink and the drug) for resale to 
aficionados). Or US beekeepers would use it as feed as do Canadians, with their cheaper cane sugar.

Unfortunately, when you start an organic topic, all rational thought leaves the building. HCFS is 
fed to bees for winter feed. From that point on, there is no difference between organic honey 
(whatever that is) and the HCFS fed bees and what they bring into the supers in the summer. The bee 
has never understood the difference between an organic food source and one that is looked at with 
disdain by their less intelligent handlers. They will gleefully slurp from near empty soft drink 
containers (tonic or soda, depending on your part of the country), lap up dog urine, and bring 
explosive residue back for Jerry. If you review posts about the stuff they find and bring back, you 
will read of the many products they enjoy and the colors imparted to honey by their choices.

It really does pay for the boss to know the product of the workers.

My point is simple: before we condemn an industry, both the corn and commercial beekeeping, let us 
be careful lest we condemn ourselves in the process.

For information: I do not feed my bees anything except candy in the spring. So I have no ax to grind 
here.

Bill Truesdell (in the immortal words of R. King, "Can't we all get along?" In the immortal words of 
Allen Dick, "No".)
Bath, Maine

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