> And syrup must be evaporated before it can be
> stores
You can make any ratio sugar/water or HFCS/water
you'd like. Its not easy to mix, but with
power tools, it certainly can be done. For
spring feeding applications, much of the (thin)
syrup would be directly consumed. For fall, one
wants a much thicker syrup, easier to obtain by
diluting HFCS than by trying to mix sugar with
water, but to each his own.
> And honey is a more appealing smell
To humans, perhaps.
> and is easier to recruit others to come get it.
I wish you could help me then, as I have
consistently failed since the 1990s to
reliably "attract" bees to a feeder with any
combination of honey, warmed wax, honey-b-healthy,
essential oils, etc.
A reliable method of attracting bees with
ANYTHING, one that would work consistently
from spring to fall, would be a big enhancement
in "bee-lining technology".
The most recent failure was at the TN state
beekeeper meeting last October. Two feeders
were set up for 48 hours before the workshop,
and 8 hives were no more than 75 yards away.
As usual, a petri dish of pure honey was
placed on each feeding station "just in case".
No customers after 48 hours, even though there
was little or no forage available, and the
flight conditions were excellent.
We ended up capturing bees as they left the
hive just to get enough bee-lining boxes
pre-loaded with bees for the workshop
participants, which meant that less than 100%
of the bees captured were actual foragers.
Many were novice fliers, proving their
inexperience by orienting to the bee-lining
box once released.
> So your conclusions based on what you PRESUME
> the bees will prefer
No, the actual data shows that the bees have
"no preference" in terms of early spring
colony expansion and strength or survival rate.
My conclusions are that whatever is easiest
and cheapest and
SAFEST to feed is what
one should use, a refutation of
YOUR
presumptions about what specific hives of bees
might have preferred at one time or another, as
best you can recall, not that you measured
anything or took any notes, of course.
> If you have a contrary observation, feel free
> to share it.
Of course I have contrary observations, all it
took was putting multiple "frame feeders" in
a hive, and tracking the amount taken from
each every few days. Better than that, you
can refer to the Canadian studies I mentioned.
(As I recall, there were at least 3 different
ones, all prompted by concerns over the use
of beet sugar in overwintering.)
> Personally I've had a lot of theories about
> bees and what they would prefer. The bees
> usually disproved them.
Sorry to hear that.
Better luck this spring.
