Re: Where have all the Honey Bees gone ? (3.00 / 0) (#20) by Boss (brians.outfit(at)gmail.com) on Tue May 6th, 2008 at 04:42:05 AM MST (User Info) http://www.outfitnm.com

We are going to catch a swarm this Spring and rebuild our hives lost to a fire 15 years ago. In preparation I've been reading a bit about modern beekeeping. It actually astounds me what commercial beekeepers do these days. If I had to guess I'd say sure herbicides and pesticides kill many bees, but taking every last bit of honey and leaving the poor bees only white sugar to eat during the Winter seems cruel. Brian Rodgers

Re: Where have all the Honey Bees gone ? (3.00 / 0) (#22) by finnsawyer on Tue May 6th, 2008 at 08:57:53 AM MST (User Info)

Leaving the bees with only white sugar for the winter seems stupid to me.  Could any creature live on only white sugar, which has been refined down to empty calories?  I suspect one can thank the development of that practice to the Federal subsidy for honey production. GeoM [ Parent ]

Re: Where have all the Honey Bees gone ? (3.00 / 0) (#24) by Ungrounded Lightning Rod on Wed May 7th, 2008 at 05:07:36 PM MST (User Info)

The honey is their energy food.  They also store "bee bread" - compressed pollen laced with antibiotic secretions - which is their source of protein and other nutrients, and entirely adequate to fill those needs. Replacing the honey with sugar is not a hardship for them.  It's just substituting one source of "empty calories" for another. Seems to me that swapping the honey for sugar is a good deal on both sides - and a lot better for the bees than harvesting the honey and leaving nothing.  (In particular, the bees can be given MORE sugar than they harvested.  That's especially valuable to them in famine years.) [ Parent ]

Re: Where have all the Honey Bees gone ? (3.00 / 0) (#26) by finnsawyer on Thu May 8th, 2008 at 09:30:17 AM MST (User Info)

Every once in a while I hear about aspects of honey that are supposed to be beneficial for humans.  If that's so then there must be more to honey for the bees than mere energy, whereas refined sugar is just a pure energy product.  I hesitate to call it a food. GeoM [ Parent ]

Where have all the Honey Bees gone ? | 33 comments (33 topical, 0 editorial)

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