LAUSR

Simple Summary In the global beekeeping industry, supplementary feeding is crucial for bee colony maintenance. Beekeepers commonly use sugar syrup as an artificial supplement, yet its impact on honey quality remains unclear. To address this gap, this study compared three types of honey: sugar-based product, honey-sourced honey, and flower-sourced honey. Flower-sourced honey exhibited superior chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional value compared to honey-sourced honey and sugar-based product. The study emphasizes the importance of sugar source selection in shaping honey quality and highlights potential drawbacks of substituting honey with sugar syrup in traditional beekeeping practices. Abstract In the global apiculture industry, reward feeding and supplementary feeding are essential for maintaining bee colonies. Beekeepers provide artificial supplements to their colonies, typically in the form of either a honey–water solution or sugar syrup. Owing to cost considerations associated with beekeeping, most beekeepers opt for sugar syrup. However, the effects of different types of artificial sugar supplements on bee colonies and their subsequent impact on honey composition remain unclear. To address this gap, this study compared the chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional potency of three types of honey: honey derived from colonies fed sugar syrup (sugar-based product, SP) or a honey–water solution (honey-sourced honey, HH) and naturally sourced honey (flower-sourced honey, FH), which served as the control. The results revealed that FH outperformed HH and SP in terms of total acidity, sugar content, total protein content, and antioxidant capacity, and HH outperformed SP. Regarding nutritional efficacy, including the lifespan and learning and memory capabilities of worker bees, FH exhibited the best outcomes, with no significant differences observed between HH and SP. This study underscores the importance of sugar source selection in influencing honey quality and emphasizes the potential consequences of substituting honey with sugar syrup in traditional apiculture practices.