# Cane or Beet Sugar



## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

A friend has some Baker's Corner sugar to give away. The package doesn't say if it's beet sugar, cane sugar or other. Does it make a difference to bees what kind of sugar they are fed? :s

Anyone familiar with Baker's Corner ......is it cane or beet?

EDIT....just noticed another sugar thread below. Maybe my answer will appear there.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

_Bakers Corner_ is an Aldi's brand name, and is used on various of their sugar products, including powdered sugar. Note that powdered sugar typically has cornstarch mixed in to prevent the sugar caking in the package. If you are feeding bees cornstarch, they will need to poop more frequently, so powdered sugar is not a good choice for winter feed.

If the sugar you are being offered is granulated sugar, there is no practical difference between granulated cane sugar and granulated beet sugar. Granulated sugar is suitable for winter bee feed.


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## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

Thanks, Rader, you answered my question(s).


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## TWall (May 19, 2010)

I have used a lot of the Bakers Corner sugar over the past few years without any problems.

Tom


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I use beet sugar because it is cheaper. Due to long cold season my bees get no nectar for seven months for the most part. I feed a lot of beet sugar.


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

Cane sugar is better for the bees.


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## bdouglas (Dec 18, 2014)

Cane and beet sugar are both sucrose. i'm surprised there is a difference for bees. Processors are not required to even label the source. They can just label it sugar.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

I've never been able to discern a difference in how bees react to either cane or beet sugar. As long as it's white granulated sugar, it's virtually 100% sucrose.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I can't say how the new GMO beet sugar would be, but since it's just Bt again and since that doesn't seem to affect bees, I think that is irrelevant to how the bees do. Neonics would worry me more, but after refinement, I have no idea how much would remain. What I do know is that for the last 41 years I've always fed whatever was cheaper and 9 times out of 10 that is beet sugar. I've never noticed any difference and the bees certainly don't think there is any difference.


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

So far my bees haven't had problems and they have had both. However, i've noticed that some of my bees do take the cane sugar more readily than the beet sugar. That could have been due to the fact they were still heavy with brood an no where to put it too. All in all the health of my bees seems to be cross the board ok reguardless of which sugar source is used.


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