If it's your honey, that should be fine. If you bought it, you don't know what came with it (foulbrood?). Sugar is cheaper than honey, why not feed it if they need it?
A beekeeper that works his bees behind my aunts house gives her a case of raw honey every year.. Suppose i can give them sugar water until they supply their own honey... I do make sugar for a living after all
Honey is very attractive to bees. Depending on how you feed it, you may be inviting other bees to become robbers. If other bees start robbing your bees, you will have a problem.
Of course, it is possible to feed bees honey without inducing robbing, but there may be other risks in the honey itself. Those risks do not involve humans, but risks to bee health. The odds are probably low that the honey will be a bee health issue, but why risk it?
I have some honey still drained off from cappings and wax and from some cut outs that I don't want to consume. I have fed small amounts (1/2 pint) via top feeders and I give it at dusk, on nights I know temp wont go below 60, and they have it empty by mid morning. I have been watching for robbing. I add a little water and shake well to thin it out a little. So far, it's workiing well.
The main reason I don't feed honey, is I don't want to set off robbing. The second reason, if it's not my honey, is the chemicals in the honey.
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