Honey Syrup and honey/pollen patties

[pmichel]

I have not been able to find information on how to make honey syrup and honey/pollen patties. I don't want to use sugar syrup unless I have to, and can't seem to find any patties that aren't full of soy flour. I've looked on the Lusby site and Mike Bush's site, but couldn't find anything (I admit I didnt' read the entire sites!):rolleyes:. I am starting from scratch in the spring with two hives and two nucs (I will be using 4.9 cell foundations), so I'll have no honey I can rob. If I must use sugar, is powdered sugar dry, white granulated sugar, or invert sugar (which I read today isn't so good) better? I would prefer to give REAL pollen/honey patties, but I know there's a slight risk of AFB. Only interested in the most natural methods so white sugar in not my idea of 'natural'. Thanks for your help.

[newbeemike]

This is just my 2 cents worth, and keep in mind I'm really new at keeping bees, but...

I'm about as fanatical about organic/natural/holistic stuff as you can get. But I'm also practical, and I don't go for any of the organic/natural/holistic stuff unless there is logical or evidential reasoning behind it. So think of it this way. White sugar is MAJOR bad news for humans. But humans weren't designed to live on sugar and symptoms usually take months or, far more often, years to develop. Bees, on the other hand, live primarily on sugar and only live 6 weeks. A big difference from humans. The way I see it, feeding bees is actually the only legitimate and safe use for white sugar.

Using honey instead of sugar is certainly the more natural way to go, and honey certainly has better nutritional value, but, it's also the more risky way to go, unless you use the honey from that exact hive. Over all, weighing the risks, required nutritional value and all else, I don't see the point in the extra effort.

[Michael Bush]

When I feed honey, which I seldom do, I feed it straight. Often crystallized as well, if that's the state I find it in. A frame feeder with crystallized honey works well. Watering honey down makes it spoil too quickly. I try not to leave them enough stores that I don't need to feed them. The best thing to feed a hive is frames of capped honey. IMO, the next best for me (but perhaps not for them) is white sugar, as I'm too lazy to harvest honey twice.

When doing pollen patties, which I seldom do, I've mixed honey with straight pollen. But usually I just put pollen on a SBB on top of a solid bottom board with an empty box and lid on top of that so the bees have access to the pollen on warm days and it doesn't get rained on.