From: "Allen Dick" <allend@internode.net>
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 10:41:31 -0700
To: <BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: Food chambers

> > 1.) There are many honies and honeydews that cause predictable high or total
> > bee loss if they are the principal feed used for wintering
> <snip>
> > If that is a risk, routine replacement with a substitute cannot lead to worse
> > results, and with judgement, can lead to equal or better success.
>
> Many honies? Key word is, IF.

That's exactly what I said, and out of fairness, I also said:

"Simply leaving lots of honey for the bees is an ideal practice, if the
honey is of an appropriate type, but economics and reality sometimes cause
us to do things differently"

and

"Although replacing or supplementing honey with sugar or HFCS is usually a
safe practice, it is not immune to its own problems".

> Given this exception, I find no proof that substitute/replacement feeding
> of sugar is in anyway as good or better than the honey the bees store
> themselves.

That is because you have not lost thousands of hives over the years from trying to winter on the honey from *some varieties* of rapeseed and canola *under some conditions*. These plants are now grown in many arfeas of the world. It is difficult to determine what variety is in your hive until it is found that the honey has gone so rock-hard that it cannot be used by the bees in winter, or removed by beekeepers. The farmers near any beekeeper may change the varieties grown without any clue to the beekeeper. There are many other plants which can damage bees.

I am not advocating total removal of honey and replacement with sugar. I do
not practice that myself, although I know many who do, with better wintering
success than I have, I might add. I am mereley suggesting that a beekeeper
must evaluate the options -- without prejudice.

> "Generalization of limited personal observations into universal 'truths' was
> common." I think the practise of a few in certain circumstances has become
> a universal truth, yes?

Well, if you are here referring to what I wrote, perhaps you might read my
carefully qualified statements in the previous post and think again.

Please do not selectively quote me out of context.

allen