Working on a heat box and trying to find the " perfect" temperature to set the thermostat is getting me to do all sorts of reading.
We know that bees are poikilothermic and endothermic.
We know that hive temperature is between 34.5 C and 36C.
I assume that at this temperature the honey is in perfect condition.
This is quite a tropic temperature.
Seeley ( 2019) reports that a cooling to 30C for just a few hours leads to the development of ascosperosis.
Is there a negative effect on honey? Probably not?
We can observe a worker with her thorax resting against an alveolus, remaining in this posture long enough to generate enough heat to raise her thoracic temperature to 40 C and warm the alveolus by a few degrees.
So 40 C is OK for honey?
Stabentheiner et al ( 2003) tells us that below 7C bees " fall into a kind of coma and then die".
Goller and Esch ( 1990) say that bees exposed to 45C will die " within a few hours"
I have corresponded with a beekeeper who kept hives in the Blue Mountains ( NSW) and had hives survive the bushfires.
The data by these researchers give us quite specific information about normal and extreme temperatures bees can survive.
Is there a correlation with the ideal storage temperature for honey?
We know that honey stored at a high temperature will darken but I can find any accurate recommendations.
There must be a lower limit and an upper limit which is ideal and at which amino acids, vitamins, minerals, iron, zinc and antioxidants are not negatively affected?