Sugar syrup good or bad!

[Curly green finger's]

Hi , I'm coming to the conclusion that syrup is not a good thing to use ..
Reasons.
If we didn't feed would there be more natural selection.
Bee's get so excited they fly out the hive like there's a flow on .
I'm not a natural beekeeper by any means but it's got to be a down fall for the bee's..
Your thoughts and don't be to harsh .

 

[Finman]

.I have overwintered my hives with sugar 57 years
They do well with sugar 9 months per year.
And so do our professional beekeepers. They use excluders that they get all honey off from hives. They have not afford to leave valuable honey in the hives.

But if bees do not get good pollen in August, then they will have a bad winter and hives are weak in Spring.

Sugar and honey have energy, and other nutritiens bees get from pollen. Pollen is very essential for good wintering..

Curly, you use only your feelings. You have brain too.......

 

[Beersmith]

If we didn't feed would there be more natural selection?

Possibly. But if the bees were totally reliant on their own honey production you might also be selecting for bees that would be totally ferocious in defending it against intruders.

When it is needed, isn't feeding syrup just good husbandry?

 

[thorn]

Curly, are you suggesting that we let them starve if we find their stores to be low, in the name of natural selection?

 

[Finman]

Curly, are you suggesting that we let them starve if we find their stores to be low, in the name of natural selection?

Honey yield depends on pastures. If bees do not get stores enough for winter natural selection does not help.

Honey is 20 Times more valuable then sugar. That is the Basic of beekeeping. We change bees' winter stores to cheap sugar.

If bees are pets, it is the same what you do. It is important that you are happy.

 

[Anduril]

This would not be a good idea for beginners, if they are not on the swarm list, they will buy nucs for £200, this is a big investment for them and to not feed, queens may stop laying and the hive never builds up. For me this is bad husbandry, they are after all livestock. I understand your viewpoint, but even late swarms could give great results the year after. There is also the investment of equipment and going to the extreme, why have it sitting idle?

 

[Finman]

Hi ,

s.
If we didn't feed would there be more natural selection.
.

Natural selection will be among the beekeepers. Those WHO have bees, and those WHO do not have.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Natural selection will be among the beekeepers. Those WHO have bees, and those WHO do not have.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bee's get so excited they fly out the hive like there's a flow on .

Never ever seen that - you must be splashing it around like a teenager with a bottle of his dad's Hi Karate!!

 

[madasafish]

Hi , I'm coming to the conclusion that syrup is not a good thing to use ..
Reasons.
If we didn't feed would there be more natural selection.
Bee's get so excited they fly out the hive like there's a flow on .
I'm not a natural beekeeper by any means but it's got to be a down fall for the bee's..
Your thoughts and don't be to harsh .

If bees were animals and you did not feed them and they died , you would end up fined and /or in jail for deliberate cruelty...
If bees were animals and you did not treat them for illnesses, ditto.

Just saying ...

 

[Ian123]

What’s natural selection got to do with it when we are taking the bees honey!! We put bees in nice dry sound hives we protect them from predators and we replace failing queens that would often lead to the demise of the colony

 

[Finman]

.
Question was about sugar , can bees eate it. The answer should be clear to everyone. But it is not. No one can help in this issue. Same debates year after year.

And another idea is that sugar must ne inverted or it must be 5 times more expencive than Lidl's sugar. . And then it is good. High price make the sugar better.


There are so much Black Magic in beekeeping.

 

[For want of a better word]

.
Question was about sugar , can bees eate it. The answer should be clear to everyone. But it is not. No one can help in this issue. Same debates year after year.

And another idea is that sugar must ne inverted or it must be 5 times more expencive than Lidl's sugar. . And then it is good. High price make the sugar better.


There are so much Black Magic in beekeeping.

"You need to feed bees sugar because you have stolen their winter stores... give them the best white cane sugar you can afford... do not mess around with the cheap beet sugar stuff as it contains traces of all sorts of nasty chemicals such as boron used in its manufacture."

Advice given to beginners by a self appointed Master Beekeeper at a BBKA association meeting I attended... not so long ago.

... whats the point in arguing!

 

[Finman]

"You need to feed bees sugar because you have stolen their winter stores... give them the best white cane sugar you can afford... do not mess around with the cheap beet sugar stuff as it contains traces of all sorts of nasty chemicals such as boron used in its manufacture."

Advice given to beginners by a self appointed Master Beekeeper at a BBKA association meeting I attended... not so long ago.

... whats the point in arguing!

Even you do not use only beet sugar in the EU. Your testimony about best cane sugar is a fairy tale.

Price of cane sugar in Finland 3.20 €/kg and beet sugar 0.6 €/kg.

.

 

[For want of a better word]

Even you can get only beet sugar in the EU. Your testimony about best cane sugar is a fairy tale.

Price of cane sugar in Finland 3.20 €/kg and beet sugar 0.6 €/kg.

.

Because real cane sugar costs so much it must be better than the cheap beet sugar shirley?

One must feed ones girls the best... don't you know???

 

[Murox]

Finman said it all really -
Sugar per se is not "bad", bees do well on common sucrose (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) and honey for energy, other nutrients bees get from pollen..........we use excluders and take all the honey from the hive for profit usually.

"But if bees do not get good pollen in August, then they will have a bad winter and hives are weak in Spring. Pollen is very essential for good wintering".​

 

[Finman]

Because real cane sugar costs so much it must be better than the cheap beet sugar shirley?

One must feed ones girls the best... don't you know???

Plaa plaa plaa

It is EU tariff which makes it expencive.

 

[For want of a better word]

Plaa plaa plaa

It is EU tariff which makes it expencive.

Great... those will go if Borish gets his way!"

 

[Curly green finger's]

Wow there's some interesting answers here, I'm not ruled by my heart and want to do my best for my bee's, I know there's natural beekeepers out there who don't take honey stores at all and don't use sugar.come forth with your posts pls...

This beekeeping hobby isn't just about monetry gain feeding sugar because we've taken super after super of honey .
@ jbm I'm as carful as I can be when feeding syrup but bee's do get excited when feeding syrup is this not waisted energy??

Where would bee's be without us and our intervention ?? None existent ??

 

[Finman]

One must feed ones girls the best... don't you know???

First bees fly to dung heap and get from there juice. Then they dilute the best expencive sugar syrup.

So bees Make "Brown sugar".