Subject: old honey

From: [email-masked] (nac250300-Hill)
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 1994 17:02:26 GMT

I have one hive of bees down in central Il, and I have 4 gallons of 
honey left that is 3 - 5 years old.  It used to taste pretty good, but 
it has gotten dark, is crystalized, and does not taste that great 
anymore.  It was not stored in the best of conditions.

If I feed this to my bees will it make this year's crop dark and 
taste old?  Or will the bees "freshen it up" somewhat?

One more question:  I have had this colony for 7 years now, and it was 
re-queened 2 years before I bought it.  Should I consider buying a new 
queen next year, or should I just let them go as long as they seem 
strong ( and they looked great yesterday ).

Thanks in advance

Stephen P. Hill
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Adrian Graham DENT - Rodent)
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 07:22:30 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (nac250300-Hill) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (nac250300-Hill)

>taste old?  Or will the bees "freshen it up" somewhat?

Usually bees wont store honey that is given to them in a honey condition, 
they will just eat it, and use it for brood food, so it shouldn't affect the 
honey quality.  
BUT are you sure (if it wasn't stored in good conditions) that it is disease 
free???

>strong ( and they looked great yesterday ).

Well...the naverage life span of a queen is about two years, so you should 
have had a few queens since then, although you may not have noticed.  Some 
beekeepers requeen every two to four years, but I only do so if I have an 
unproducitve hive, or one that is paricularly unpleasant to work with.   I 
also like to requeen if I am splitting a hive, because there is a theory 
that leaving a "swarm induced" queen will promote the swarm impulse gene...
if there is such a thing.

Adrian (was I helpful this timt?? hu?  huh?  was I??)

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From: [email-masked] (Adrian Graham DENT - Rodent)
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 07:22:30 GMT