“I like honey but I don’t buy it because we don’t use it up fast enough, so it goes bad and I have to throw it out.” How often have you heard something like that from a potential honey customer?

Many people are just not aware that granulation or crystallization is a natural process — a natural characteristic of pure honey — and it doesn’t harm the honey in any way.

Honey is honey, whether in liquid or in solid form.

In fact, the semi-solid creamed honey that’s so popular as an easy-to-use spread is made by taking advantage of this natural granulation process. The only difference between this creamed honey and honey that has granulates naturally is in the size of the crystals — a creamed honey is produced by stirring the honey as it granulates, so it ends up with very fine crystals and a smooth creamy texture.

If liquid honey becomes grainy, cloudy in appearance, or hard to pour — don’t worry! Granulation is easily reversed by gently heating the honey.

• Just place the honey jar in a pan of very warm water until the crystals dissolve.
• Or put a cup of honey into a microwave-safe container and zap it on medium-high for 2 minutes, stopping to stir it every 30 seconds to be sure it doesn’t boil or scorch.

Be aware that over-heating honey will cause it to lose some flavour and aroma, and it may darken in colour or even carmelize at higher temperatures — “gently” is the key to re-liquifying a jar of crystallized honey. Alternatively, honey that has begun to granulate can be used “as is” for cooking and baking.

Central Beekeepers will meet at the Maugerville Community Centre, Maugerville, NB, at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 13 November 2007, for our regular end-of-season potluck supper meeting.

The election of our Executive for 2008 will take place at this meeting, and all paid-up members of the Central Beekeepers Alliance are eligible to vote.

As well, Fletcher Colpitts, the Chief Apiary Inspector for New Brunswick, will be there to give a few words about the current state of beekeeping in the province.

Guests, new beekeepers, and interested others are welcome to attend, as always.

Sucrocide™ (sucrose octanoate) is registered in the United States for varroa mite control. It is of interest because sucrose octanoate is a natural food additive, and thus safe for use in bee colonies.

But is this really an effective varroa mite treatment for Canadian beekeepers?

Alison Skinner, Janet Tam, Rachel Bannister and Melanie Kempers evaluated Sucrocide™ as a Varroa mite treatment under the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association Tech-Transfer Program. It was one of three projects funded by the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) through the CanAdapt Program from July 2004 to July 2006.

The objective was to determine if the strength of the colony was compromised by the Sucrocide™ treatment, and if it was effective against varroa in Ontario’s conditions.

Spring Trial

Mite-AwayII™, oxalic acid (single application), oxalic acid (double application), Sucrocide™ and no treatment (control) were evaluated to determine their effects on honey bee colony strength and honey production.

Results

The number of frames of brood, bees and honey at 3, 6 and 13 weeks following Sucrocide™ treatment was consistent with the control colonies. The treatment did not raise concerns regarding damage to the colony population. This is consistent with the nature of the treatment and the data collected in US trials.

Colonies treated with Mite-AwayII™ had noticeably less brood than the control colonies after 3 weeks. At 6 and 13 weeks, however, there was more brood in the colonies treated with Mite-AwayII™ than the control colonies. Though the colonies treated with Mite-AwayII™ initially experienced brood damage, these colonies recovered and exceeded the number of frames of bees and brood in the untreated colonies.

Colonies which received an oxalic acid treatment had slightly less brood and bees than the untreated colonies 13 weeks after treatment. Interestingly, colonies which received 2 oxalic acid treatments had more bees than untreated colonies after 13 weeks. The long term effects of a spring oxalic acid treatment and multiple oxalic treatments is not yet understood and neither are recommended for use.

Fall Trial

The efficacy of a fall treatment of Sucrocide™ and trickled oxalic acid against varroa mites was compared in 2005 in a bee yard south of Guelph, Ontario. (Mite-AwayII™ was not used in this trial.)

Results

The post-treatment average varroa mite load was more than triple the pre-treatment mite load for the Sucrocide™ treatment group. In comparison to the other treatments, the post-treatment varroa per 100 bees was twice as high as the mite load in any of the other treatment groups.

Varroa mite populations were maintained by the trickled oxalic acid treatment. There was brood present in the colonies when treatments were applied, however, and therefore, oxalic acid was not expected to be as effective as if it had been properly applied, later in the fall, when colonies are broodless.

Conclusion

Based on these trials and others, the Tech-Transfer Program researchers concluded that the Sucrocide™ treatment did not show promise as a control method for varroa mites in Ontario. Although it was not harmful to expose the bee colony to Sucrocide™, the treatment application time was lengthy and, most importantly, the Sucrocide™ treatment was not effective to control varroa mites.

Thanks to Alison Skinner, Technology Transfer Specialist, Ontario Beekeepers Association, for providing her team’s report: The evaluation of Sucrocide™ as a treatment to control varroa mites (PDF file)