SUGAR FOR BEES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21249, 1 August 1932, Page 13

SUGAR FOR BEES

Sir,—The request from the annual conference of the National Beekeepers' Association to the Government for remission of the recently imposed extra taxation on sugar in respect of quantities used as feed for bees may lead to the false idea that sugar is sometimes an actual ingredient in the production of honey. It is unfortunate that published reports make use of the phrase " used in the production of honey." What usually happens is, that for stimulative purposes „in connection with spring development of brood in the hives, beekeepers feed sugar syrup, which is not stored in any quantity, but disappears or is transformed into thousands of growing larvae which become harvesters of nectar from clover and other flowers in December and January. In unfavourable, late, cold springs a beekeeper with one thousand hives or more might have to feed 12 or 15 tons of sugar to have his colonies in condition for the harvesting period, which is only of a few weeks' duration. During the actual time of the harvesting, the period of the nectar-flow, bees will not look at sugar syrup. Last summer, so severe were drought conditions in Canterbury and parts of the South Island,' that many beekeepers there harvested no crop, and, in addition to having to live without income for a year, had to buy honey from other districts fo maintain their trade connections, and buy much more sugar than usual to save their capital from extinction by starvation. Occasionally, peoplo see a tin or carton of honey of very coarse grain or sugary appearance, and think sugar has been added by the beekeeper or fed to the bees and then tinned up as honey. Sometimes, in packing honey, solid, smooth-grained, perfect samples may be spoiled by reliquifying with too much heat, especially when 601b. tins have to be repacked in small containers. Over-heating results in darkening and in coarse, sugary granulation, but it is pure honey, no sugar has been introduced. James B. Ballantyne, Secretary, Auckland Central Beekeepers' Association.