To those people who have been offended, or take umbrage at my any of my postings in this discussion, I wish to say Sorry.
To see such vigorous opposition to what I said would suggest that I was guilty of some kind of heresy. Please let me preempt any “clever responses” which some may be tempted to make. All that I am asking by this comment is that you consider the claims that I made, rather than the misconstrued characterizations of my original posting.
There is much that I would like to say in my defense, but I want to try and be restrained in what I say.
I have
never said that sugar cakes are “
best”. I think that fondant and sugar cakes are probably similar in helpfulness, usability, nutritional benefit, etc, to the bees – provided that there are no contaminants in the fondant. There have been occasions when some knowledgeable members of this forum have written about the risks of feeding fondant or candy which has been overheated or contains ingredients other than sugar.
Dani has just written, in post #24: “
You can make your own emergency fondant much more easily from granulated sugar and water by simply whizzing the sugar in a food processor till it is fine then adding water. No heating”
This sounds remarkably similar to my comment in posting #1, where I mentioned the benefits of mixing syrup (rather than just water) into the sugar: “
I read very recently of a beekeeper using syrup to moisten granulated sugar, to produce hard blocks of caked sugar. The method is very simple, and requires only little effort.”
Thank you Dani for your support.
Hemo made some comments in posting #15, to which I would like to respond:
“Sugar syrup mould is easily remedied with a small amount of thymol added so not a very big issue. My bees in prep for the winter sabbatical will take down syrup or fondant readily before October's end add to bolster there already stored honey and ivy nectar should this damn rain cease.”
I have mentioned elsewhere about “prevention is better than cure”. Having to
remedy (or “cure”) syrup mould indicates that additional steps need to be taken.
Hemo concluded his comment with the words: “ . . .
should this damn rain cease”. Let me gently suggest, Hemo, that you avoid such extreme language. The Arabs have a proverb, based on experience, which says “All sunshine and no rain make a desert”.
The word “faff” is one which we do not use in Australia, and I had never encountered it before I joined this forum. The definition I have found for this word is to: “
spend time in ineffectual activity.”
That word “faff” was used by Newbeeneil in posting #16, to describe the process of mixing sugar with syrup. I have already mentioned that I think that mixing syrup with sugar is better than just mixing water with sugar, when I responded to Dani’s comment. Newbeeneil, if you think that my method is faff, then what do you think of Dani’s method?
I do however thank Newbeeneil for the conciliatory tone in his posting #18, which he ended with the words, “
Again I was agreeing with you”. But I do not retract from my claim that Newbeeneil, in his posting #11, inserted the words “
Fondant is not ignored” and “
Nor does fondant” into what were allegedly my comments. I had not written those words, and it was inappropriate for them to be inserted in that way.
Wilco said, in posting #17: “
@Newbeeneil was, IMO fairly, responding to your post where you went on about sugar cakes being better than all other methods. He pointed out that fondant basically matches all of your claims about sugar cakes...”
Wilco, I think that I can understand the reason for you supporting Newbeeneil,
BUT I had not said that sugar cakes were better. What I did say was that “
I have come to the conclusion that this kind of sugar cake may have more advantages than other methods of feeding sugar to bees.” “More advantages”. I do not think that I have suggested that (good quality) fondant has disadvantages as a food for bees. Yes, I have spoken about concerns about HMF, and additives in baker’s fondant which may not be helpful to bees – but these are thoughts which had already been discussed in other threads on this forum, by other forum members, before I ever commenced this particular discussion thread.
There is much more that I could say. I have not referred to Jenkinsbrynmair’s accusatory comments, and do not want to get into a slanging match with anyone. Suffice to say that when asked to support some of his claims he seems adept at side-stepping the issue.
