Kate Henderson asks about feeding pollen patties "in the Northeast, more
specifically in the Hudson Valley area of New York where it's 20 degrees F
and we had 14 inches of snow yesterday."

Unless one "needs" to jump start their bees (for instance to make splits or
to have large populations to meet pollination contracts), feeding bees is
probably not necessary in the Northeast, and in fact may be counter
productive.  Feeding bees is an artifical way to start the season early.
Once started, feeding must be kept up until the season catches up with the
beekeeper.  If a colony is jump started, and the artificial source of feed
runs out, it can be a sever setback for the colony and cause the bees major
stress.  The colony may end up worse off than if just left alone.
Furthermore, a colony artifically jump started, and continued jump started
properly, is almost guaranteed to swarm when the season is right unless said
colony is split.  Dr. Roger Morse (Cornell University) used to teach that
feeding colonies in the Northeast (where he kept bees) is an unnecessary
exercise.  The soft maples will start blossoming in 3 or 4 weeks, which is
"about" the proper time in the bee season for build up in preparation for
the honey flows in this area.

Spring feeding bees pollen patties is covered extensively in the BEE-L
archives.  There is a lot of good information, including recipes and
warnings such as I've written here.  If a beekeeper is considering feeding
their bees because it sounds like a good idea, it may not be as good an idea
as it sounds.  There should be a reason to feed bees, it should be done
properly, continued once started, and the beekeeper must be highly
successful when it comes to swarm control.  Otherwise, leave the bees alone.

Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!

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