Hi Al,

I had a couple gallons left over winter that I wasn't sure about. I asked
myself what the value of sugar was compared to the value of bees to which It
would be fed.
I tossed the syrup.
It can go bad. The first thing probably is fermentation. Ethanol and bees do
not go together at all.
Up until yesterday, when winter hit (well,ok, it got a lot colder at least)
most of my bees  had been taking all the syrup and pollen substitute I
served up. I open fed the pollen sub; it was a blast to watch them, and
follow the dusty little sweeties back to their homes. Among the 35 or so
colonies I keep at home, I have some Russians, and successors open-mated
with PBA Gold Line and a local Italian/Carniolan line maintained over 15
years, and it is fascinating to see the individual differences  based on the
genetic variation.
 Most took syrup right down, but a couple hardly touched it, all year long.
Weatherwise, I've had similar experiences to other posters from the
Northeast. That last stretch of mild weather was invaluable to me as far as
allowing build up for winter survival. The bees were in far worse shape than
I at first believed. Spring stores nearly vanished, combs nearly empty
upstairs and down. After heavy feeding I'm a lot more confident that most
will survive, but every warm spell we get I'll be mixing syrup.
I agree, Al; this is a great resource. Good luck to you, and Happy
Thanksgiving to everyone!
Tim

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