Boca....from another thread...
If you look up the Sudzucker website and research Api-invert (using that name here as it is the one I mentioned in the post) you will find that any similarity to the product you mention is slight. In ALL the main products sold as 'designer' bee syrups in the EU the main constituent is fructose.
Api-invert is made from beet sugar only...........as is Ambrosia. Some other products are blends of starch derived syrups and white sugar derived syrups.
I respect all you say as you have an expertise in serious winter conditions probably unrivalled on this forum..........BUT.......your extreme conditons require extreme measures, whereas in the UK, even up here in Scotland, by your standards our winters are very mild.
In extensive experimentation we have demonstrated to our sufficient satisfaction that most of these syrups are the best winter food you can possibly buy. I would rank the common foods in this order, always supposing you can get an adequate (but not excessive) amount of stores into the hive for winter.
1. Top rated branded syrups
2. White sugar syrup
3. Fondant (and this is top rated emergency food any time in winter, and for those colonies inadequately fed before the onset of cold conditions.)
4. Second ranked syrups (100% starch derived), but only this low in the rankings due to high consumption rates, otherwise they are fine.
5. Home made candy
6. Their own honey
982. Other honey.
Since moving away from made up syrup onto Ambrosia initially, then Api invert, and now Apisuc or Invert Bee our bees have never looked better going into winter.
Our conditions are not like Finnish ones, and our bees tend to be very different too, with smaller clusters and far lower stores needs. Regular cleansing flights during winter are the normal, and a six week shut in due to weather would be very rare.
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=14521
http://www.bienenfutter.eu/en/Produkte/Fertigfutter-fuer-die-Imkerei/