# the dextrose part of hfcs?



## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

When feeding hfcs what if any does the dextrose part play? I have some some totes of de42 I can get for free and if I can mix it with my sucrose totes I think I would have a great feed?


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

I would not take it for bee feed if you gave it to me. See for yourself how it crystallizes into a fine white powder that the bees will not use. Sell it to your moonshining buddies.

Crazy Roland


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Would this be type 42 HFCS ?


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

Sorry I went out and looked at the lable it is DE36 corn syrup. from ADM


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Isn't that, DE36?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I know some critter eat dirt, but I never heard of honeybees doing so. I've seen cows licking a bank for minerals.

Avoid at all cost, imo.


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## MTINAZ (Jan 15, 2010)

sqkcrk said:


> Avoid at all cost, imo.


Can I ask why? I am all for avoiding bad things if they are really bad, but it seems like HFCS gets a bad rap. Has any one taken 100 hives or so in one yard with same type, age, ect queens and fed half HFCS and half sucrose? I would like to know if they are seeing real differences over the course of a year with the bees.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

Is there Diatomaceous Earth in this grade of Corn Syrup (DE36)- or are you guys kidding around?


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

Dextrose is mentioned in the data:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/blogs/healthy-food/types-of-sugar-0921


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Could you reply with the precise name of the product you are asking about? I found a 36/43 corn syrup made by ADM.

Crazy Roland


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

We have always considered feeding fructose akin to feeding mud, sticks and leaves.........Bees just sustain themselves on it. Now feeding sucrose is like feeding a ribeye steak to them...puts the weight on them and builds them up nice. Dextrose would be like giving them a puff of air. TED


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

roland it say de36 not the blend of 36/42. The company that I am getting it from gets it in totes and tankers from adm. My contact told me that it is just de36 as the custom make it


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

It appears that the DE stands for Dextrose equivalent. Google it under Wiki. There is a fairly good article that come up under a DE36 google search and is a Google/docs.

I will still stand by my original advice. Do not feed it to the bees. They may not be able to digest the larger maltodextrin or polysacarides molecules that may be present. In a pinch, it MIGHT be usable in spring for stilulant feeding(when they can poop outside), but I cannot
advise it be used for wintering.

Get a small sample, feed it to one hive, and see if they get the runs.

Can you get a MSDS sheet and post it? 

What (if I may ask) are they using it for ? Ice Cream?



Crazy Roland


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

they make creamer with it. I will not feed it for fall but try it in the spring by open feeding and see if they take it. thank for the advice. with feed costs going up need to find every chance to cut costs. I love free feed but not at the cost of losing bees...


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

my friend just called me from the plant. another machine broke down that pumps the dextrose. it is dextrose 36/43 this time and they want me to pick up 6000lbs. I would like to get it and mix it with the sucrose that they also give me. Does anyone have any further thoughts on this? I would wait till spring to feed it.


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

rainesridgefarm said:


> I will not feed it for fall but try it in the spring by open feeding and see if they take it. thank for the advice. with feed costs going up need to find every chance to cut costs.


Rule #1 in livestock production
When costs go up or when production goes down or when the price drops on the commodity....
NEVER NEVER never and i repeat never cut costs in nutrition or health...find other places to cut.

Rule #2
See rule #1


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

I just don't seem to understand this thread.
We try to do anything & everything to keep bees alive & healthy & yet it still becomes one devil of a fight many times to do so.
So because something is free or at a reduced cost it some how makes it worth a gamble to feed bees with.
Queens are over $20 bucks now & packages/nucs are at the $100 mark so it worth cutting corners on bee feed and taking a gamble?


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

I get 15,000lbs of sugar from them free every year so should I turn that away because it is free, heck no. I do not want to waste anything if it can be used. The last load I got i spread it on my hayfield because no one could tell me if I can feed it or not. HFCS is a standard feed in most commercial operations and dextrose is 41% of the composition of hfcs 55. I think I will blend some this spring and try it. Then I will let you all know what I find


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Sell it to a moonshiner, take your money and buy something that is better for the bees. 
Look at the sugar profile. NOT GOOD!!! Too many long sugars that the bees would not find in nature. 

I agree with Soupcan, didn't we go down this road before? Or maybe a test of my sanity, keep asking the same question and see if my answer changes.

Crazier Roland


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

I will put it on the hay field again. I talked to a chemist at adm and he stated that it would not be good feed for bees. His boss is a beekeeper and they have played around with a few different sugars with the bees. Thanks for everones input.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

I would NOT put it on a hayfield. That may be a crime under DNR or EPA rules. Ground water contamination is frowned upon. 

Again, find a moonshiner in your area. WE have alot of the Corn to ethanol plants in Wisconsin. If you read the data sheet for that product, it is intended for use by brewers. Use it for what it was intended.

Still Crazy Roland


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

It should not contaminate any ground water, its sugar. it will rot just like everything else


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## Oregonbeeman (Jul 12, 2011)

I feed dextrose to my bees last summer. Got it from a friend who has a Dr in animal nutrition. My bees loved it. Kinda caused a robbing situation from the hives that just had regular sugar syrup instead. I plan on feeding it more this spring to see how it works. Its cheaper and possibly more nutritionaly available since it is straight glucose.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Nectar is mostly Sucrose. Sucrose is made up of one Dextrose (aka Glucose) and one Levulose (aka Fructose) connected. Bees break these apart using an enzyme, invertase. All of these are in Honey. What else is in DE42 besides Dextrose and sucrose? Are there a lot of starches? Other sugars? I'm having trouble finding an exact description... best I can tell it's brown rice syrup. Not sure why anyone thinks it's worse the HFCS except maybe it has more starches?

It's never a good idea to experiment on a large scale...


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

It looks like you can get it already in 8 oz, 12 oz and 15 oz bears:
http://www.chemicalskey.com/chemicals-p_1356681_honey-rice-syrup.htm

You don't even need to feed it to the bees and extract it. 

http://www.21food.com/products/brown-rice-syrup(de42)-365864.html


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

rainesridgefarm said:


> my friend just called me from the plant. another machine broke down that pumps the dextrose. it is dextrose 36/43 this time and they want me to pick up 6000lbs. I would like to get it and mix it with the sucrose that they also give me. Does anyone have any further thoughts on this? I would wait till spring to feed it.


I would go for it. There is no reason for it to harm bees because after all dextrose is Glucose. Mix it with fructose and you got Inverted Sucrose. I guess the other "components/junk" might have some affects on the bees.


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Michael Bush said:


> Nectar is mostly Sucrose. Sucrose is made up of one Dextrose (aka Glucose) and one Levulose (aka Fructose) connected. Bees break these apart using an enzyme, invertase. All of these are in Honey. What else is in DE42 besides Dextrose and sucrose? Are there a lot of starches? Other sugars? I'm having trouble finding an exact description... best I can tell it's brown rice syrup. Not sure why anyone thinks it's worse the HFCS except maybe it has more starches?
> 
> It's never a good idea to experiment on a large scale...



Apparently bees have a longer flight if they consume starch. 
http://www.apimondiafoundation.org/foundation/files/302.pdf

Quote from the study.

"This provides 
evidence that the enzyme amylase found in the hypopharyngeal glands of older workers increases their efficiency of utilising complex 
carbohydrates and underlines their important role as food processors in the highly evolved social system of the honeybee society. "


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

there is no sucrose in it. the full discription is easy to find. Here is the link.

http://www.adm.com/_layouts/ProductDetails.aspx?productid=15


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