How do you tell if there is sugar water in your honey?
I fed sugar water to my new 3 lb. package of bees this spring. When I took the feeder off (top feeder), I added a new super with foundation. And then added another. When I harvested the honey from the top super, it is very light colored and a little on the thin side. Could they have moved sugar water up into the new super? The honey is quite tasty. They have already filled another medium super. (4 mediums foundation from scratch and filled).
Thanks.
Mike
most likely that sugar water was used to draw out comb. If you added supers/hove bodies as you went then stopped feeding them once all was drawn out then what you have is pure honey! If you have continuously fed them up until now you may have sugar water honey. Generally spring honey is pretty light to begin with.
Quote from: MikeG on September 17, 2009, 09:30:01 PM
How do you tell if there is sugar water in your honey?
I fed sugar water to my new 3 lb. package of bees this spring. When I took the feeder off (top feeder), I added a new super with foundation. And then added another. When I harvested the honey from the top super, it is very light colored and a little on the thin side. Could they have moved sugar water up into the new super? The honey is quite tasty. They have already filled another medium super. (4 mediums foundation from scratch and filled).
Thanks.
Mike
All your honey can be different in color and taste,depends where they get it from during the year.
My experience is that newly extracted honey does feel thin. Over time it seems to get thicker. Warmer honey will be thinner too, maybe that is part of it.
How thick it feels isn't a good gauge since the bees treat sugar water and nectar the same way (its basically the same thing - sucrose water)...enzymes, drying, capping, etc. Nectar actually starts out much less concentrated, typically.
Honey comes in all colors - from water white to flourescent yellow to molasses black. The white stuff is typically the most expensive, so so it sounds like you've got a good batch there! :)
Flavor is most important. If it has little flavor then maybe there's sugar water in there. But I really really doubt it if it is two supers up.
Rick
I don't know if they move stores around or not. I stop feeding before putting supers on. I think that is sufficient insurance against sugar water in the honey.
Thanks very much for those responses. I definitely ceased feeding when I added the supers. And since those supers only had foundation and no comb, I felt safe. But I had read that they sometimes move stuff around.
The honey tastes quite good. Guess I will quite worrying!
It was my understanding that they do move the honey around whereever they need it. Just what I have been told from other beeks and I believe this forum.
Alot of beeks feed at one time of year are another. The concern is feeding while supers are on to gather an intentionally adulterated product.
You have not done this --- enjoy you honey and the fruits of your girls labor :- :)!