Taffy (and maybe bee feed?)

[dan3008]

Saw this little gem today.

basically, you heat your honey to soft crack stage (140 degrees Celsius or about 285 degrees Fahrenheit)
Spread it on a tray.
Keep moving it around until its "warm" and forms a manipulable mound.
butter hands, and keep pulling/twisting/folding your honey until it goes very light caramel colour.

and thats it. Cut, shape and pack

Tastes delicious, I've tried it.

I've started to wonder though, would it be better for the bee's than a fondent made of table sugar? After all, its just heated honey... and more to the point, would the bees eat it?
thoughts?

 

[pargyle]

No .. definitely NO.

You need to read up about HMF

"According to the literature, researchers have in many cases proved that the HMF is toxic to bees. They found that higher concentrations of HMF in food for bees in experiments in cages increased bee mortality compared with lower concentrations (Jachimowicz and El Sherbiny, 1975 Prandin et al., 2001 Le Blanc 2009, Ruiz- Matute, 2010), but more precise data on the exact value of the content of HMF that is toxic to bees and what the content of these compounds adversely affect the colony, yet is not known. Jachimowicz and El Sherbiny (1975) on the basis of the results of their research conclude that the food (syrups) for bees is acceptable if it contains up to 30 mg / kg HMF, if this value is exceeded, the health of bees can be compromised. Since the effects of HMF on honey bees have not yet been sufficiently explored, it is necessary to be careful."

Start here:

http://-------.eu/hmf-silent-enemy-in-honey-and-bee-food/ (OK .. the link has been prevented by the forum police- but if you google 'HMF and Bees' you will get there)

and here:

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/hmf.html

 

[dan3008]

Thanks for the link... I should have remembered from uni that boiling honey increases conversation to hmf...
Thanks for the link that was an interesting read. I guess its just a human sweet then