The pH of Honey and Sugar Syrup

In conventional beekeeping it is a common practice to steal all the honey from the bees and then feed them with white refined sugar. Sugar pH is 7 and that of the honey is all between 3,5 to 5. This tells us that bees prefer acidic food and not neutral nor alkaline.

I have read many times that beekeepers say sugar syrup's pH is 7 but this is far from the truth ladies and gents! You see, no one I know of mentioned the pH of the tap water used to make the sugar syrup. You see the tap water in Sweden for instance is pH 8 or higher! This will be the pH of the sugar syrup too, maybe a bit less than that but still very much alkaline.

You see, the bees health depends on the delicate balance within its body. Like us they too have various bacteria functioning within them. One of such bacteria is the Lactic Acid Bacteria which strengthens the immunity. This bacteria needs acid conditions to live and sugar syrup surely is not providing that.

And then we wonder why bees have many issues in the world of conventional beekeeping.

I am against feeding sugar syrup but do feed it to the bees in case they need extra food. When I make sugar syrup I make sure to add organic apple cider vinegar to it to lower the pH and I also add a cup of Nettle tea for extra minerals. Its not perfect but much better than sugar syrup with a pH of 8 (thanks to the hard tap water).

The best is to let the bees have their honey, pesticide free honey that is.

Sugar Syrup (5:3) with organic apple cider vinegar and Nettle tea