I am sure this has been asked and posted several times but i am new so please tolerate it one more time. My question is for sugar water and grease patties can i use pure cane sugar or granulated does it make a difference?
I thought they were the same thing? Doesn't the package say Pure Granulated Cane Sugar? If you mean "pure cane sugar" the stuff health food stores sell (un-refined sugar), I wouldn't. Most will tell you not to use anything but pure refined sugar. You can't of course go by that alone though since many people will repeat things they hear and believe them without giving it much thought. I can't say it would hurt them since I have never tried it - and it wouldn't make much sense that it would as long as they can fly at will to cleans themselves. But if it is for stores for the winter it does make sense that the minerals and such in the "un-refined" sugars could cause a lot of trouble for the bees.
White, granulated cane sugar. SOME say beet sugar is the way to go - good luck finding it, or HFCS, but my guess is, of those who feed, the staggering majority use white cane sugar. Don't try to get all natural on us - the molasses is not regarded as a good ingredient for bees.
I guess what's available has to do with geography a bit. This is sugar beet country up here near central Michigan and beet sugar has more shelf space at the grocery stores. Up here cane sugar is more expensive and generally comes in smaller bags too. They are both sucrose, though.
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