# Best cane sugar for bees?



## exavier (Apr 13, 2015)

Hopefully this is the right area to ask this question I'm getting some bee's beginning of next month (around the 6th) a nuc and a package. One thing I'm a bit confused on is if there is a certain brand or type of sugar that might be best. The consensus seems to be that cane sugar is best. Some beekeepers point out to be that organic would likely have less containment’s in it but everything I'm reading says that the sugar needs to be refined. A lot of the products seem to claim that the organic stuff is unrefined. So I guess I'm just unsure if it would be healthiest for the bees to go with just regular cane sugar or organic cane sugar. Any thoughts or opinions?


----------



## Knisely (Oct 26, 2013)

It doesn't matter if it is cane sugar or beet sugar--both are sucrose. White sugar is what you should be looking for, and you should look for the best price you can get it for. If you can get your per pound price down, it'll be good for your finances.


----------



## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Welcome to Beesource!


I suggest that plain old white granulated sugar is the best choice. There is no effective difference between cane sugar and beet sugar.

The issue with any "organic" sugar that is not bright white (as regular granulated sugar is) is the reason that it is not bright white is that it has some remaining molasses-like residual solids, which gives it the brownish color. Those solids are not digestible by the bees.


----------



## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Actually, as far as the benefits of organic sugar vs refined sugar_ for bees_, the organic product will have more undesirable stuff than plain white, bleached, granulated sugar. Organic sugar is also quite expensive compared to non-organic sugar.

The issue with beet vs cane is that most beet sugar is now derived from GMO beets. Both sources produce a similar product, though, with the same nutritional benefits for the bees. Sugar not specifically identified as "cane" sugar is likely to be from beet sources, as beet-sugar is less expensive.

For my bees, I would never use organic sugar both because of what it has in it, and because of the significant additional cost. But I do choose ordinary cane sugar over beet sugar, notwithstanding the modest cost increase, because I don't want to use GMO-products and there is currently no way of knowing if the beet-source for the sugar is GMO, or not. 

Unless you have more than a few hives, you won't be using tons of any kind of sugar. But it will still pay to locate a source for 25 or 50 lb bags. Sam's Club, Costco, BJs, local suppliers to bakeries, etc., are all possibilities. A year ago I was payiing @ $9.75 for 25 lbs of Domino's cane sugar (at BJs). I think the price has gone up some - I recently noticed a local bee supplier had 50 lb bags for more than twice that. But all of the big, bulk bags will be much cheaper than buying it in 1-4 lb sacks at the grocery store.

Your first year of beekeeping is when you'll need the most, at least that has been my experience here in northern NY. I used a couple hundred pounds in my first Fall and winter, but very little since then. After they've been up and running for a year, the main reason they'll need a lot of supplemental sugar/syrup is if you take off "too much" honey, or if there is an atypical nectar dearth. "Too much" honey is defined as taking so much you have to supplement the bees' winter stores to permit their survival. You have to have one, or the other, (honey or sugar) in the hive or the colony will starve. Some people argue that sugar is cheaper than honey, so take all (or most of) the honey and replace it with sugar. I happen to think that honey is better winter food than cane sugar for bees, but there are studies that contradict that. 

This Spring I added some commercial winter patties (low protein, not to be confused with higher protein, "pollen sub" patties). My bees like them well enough, but they are made with high-fructose corn syrup which I like even less than beet sugar. 

And no matter how much honey you've harvested, or even none at all, granulated sugar (whether cane or beet) is cheap insurance against winter-starvation if you misjudge the amount of stores in the hive, or the winter conditions make easy retrieval of it by the bees unusually hard. Less than ten bucks worth of granulated sugar, per hive, could mean the difference between a live colony in the Spring vs. a dead-out. 

Enj.


----------



## burns375 (Jul 15, 2013)

the best sugar is the cheapest


----------



## exavier (Apr 13, 2015)

All right thanks for the info everyone. Clear up a lot for me. Think I'll go with refined cane sugar then. Since I want to keep them properly fed especially since this will be my first time starting off.


----------

