Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING => Topic started by: Inquorate on September 30, 2013, 03:52:19 am
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Is it best to feed a new package with store-bought honey in a vacuum feeder or 1:1 sugar:water?
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Does feeding bees processed honey give them dysentry? Surely even processed honey would be better than sugar though, so if there are no great ill effects it has to be beneficial?
Here in Australia, we don't have much corn syrup (bees store it but will starve) added to our honey, so I'm not too worried about that.
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Is there any benefit to providing pollen substitutes like soy flour?
That's all, I'm questioned out.
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Feeding honey back to bees is illegal in Australia unless it has been irradiated, you risk passing foul brood and other diseases on to your bees.
Stick to sugar syrup.
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Never feed your bees honey that your bees did not produce. Store bought honey is normally honey that has been mixed from honey removed from hundreds of hives, many of which are constantly being treated for AFB. The chances of it getting AFB in your hive goes up exponentially from store bought honey. All it takes is one of those hives to infect your hives. Treatment does not remove AFB, it just keeps it under control.
Jim
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Thanks guys :-)
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Never feed bees honey. You are doomed to fail. It spreads AFB. Never. Never. Never.
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You shouldn't need to feed bees this time of year, but if you are feeding them, only return clean product to them, make you own syrup & pollen subs. Don't feed any bee product back to them, it is to risky to catch disease,
cheers
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All good now, they've got their own honey flow going so I've taken the sugar-water away. Tnx for the advice peeps :-)