Feeding Diluted Honey

[Michael Bach]

My mentor and I are is disagreement about this.  I have a two hives that still need feeding.  One is a nuc that way just hived in the 10 frame hive and the other is a weak hive that is getting its act together.  I have read to many "dont do it" articles to feel comfortabe with this.  He says it is fine.  The honey is local and been sterilized in 180 degree water for 20 minutes.  We have feed at 12% dilution.

What is everyones thoughts or experiences with this.

[riverrat]

if you know where it came from It should be allright. Im not sure how hot it has to get to kill foul broad spores. But I got to ask why feed 5 dollar a pound honey to the bees when you can feed them 60 cent a lb sugar

[slacker361]

so you are saying that when i eat honey ,i am eating foul brood spores? YUK

[Kathyp]

save the honey feed the sugar syrup.

[deknow]

1.  it makes me cringe to think of honey heated to 180.
2.  if the beekeeper uses regular antibiotic (TM) treatments for foulbrood, i would not feed it to your bees.

deknow

[riverrat]

so you are saying that when i eat honey ,i am eating foul brood spores? YUK

It would probly scare you to see what is in some honeys but to answer your question yes if there is foul brood spore in the hive its in the honey.

[Scadsobees]

so you are saying that when i eat honey ,i am eating foul brood spores? YUK

As long as you don't have any body parts rotting off or a foul odor of rotting meat eminating from your insides you should be fine.  Uh oh...I better double check those body parts, I just got a bad smell...... :-D

You are also eating botulism spores and insect parts.

And that is just from the lettuce in the salad.  Even more stuff on your carrots and tomatoes!!  The strep!  The staph!  And who knows what else!

And in the honey.  you'll be fine.  the world is an amazingly un-sterile place.

[Scadsobees]

Unless you have tons of your own honey left over and no prospect for selling it, feed sugar water.  No reason to waste honey on them when sugar works just as well.

And if you don't know where the honey is from, then I'd also say no way.

[Michael Bach]

Well I pulled the plug on feeding honey to my hives.  I put a small amount in an saturday and went to feed today with sugar water.  The bees were feeding off the honey water put the fermentation of the honey water in only 4 day is unacceptable.  Not sure how booze effects bees but I am not going to find out.

Thanks for all you inputs.

[AllenF]

On eating yucky stuff in your honey, just remember, honey is bee puke.

[riverrat]

On eating yucky stuff in your honey, just remember, honey is bee puke.

Thats Why they call it honey. The other just doesnt sound good. :-D

[Michael Bush]

I prefer honey to sugar water.  I would never heat it, especially if I were feeding it to bees.  I would never dilute it as it spoils too quickly.  I would never buy it to feed it as 1) it's too expensive and 2) I don't know what is in it, and it's really not foulbrood I'm afraid of, as deknow says, it's antibiotics like tylosin that I'm more afraid of.  Crystalized honey is really best as it won't spoil quickly, won't drown bees, and I don't have to reliquify it.  :)  This works well in a frame feeder or a "packet" feeder such as one of those 9 x 12 cardboard mailers.

[FRAMEshift]

We have a complete embargo on any imported stuff, especially honey.  The only new things that enter the bee yard are new boxes and frames and cane sugar.  And of course... whatever the bees drag in.  :-D