Hello Juanse & All,


> Recent work by Dave de Jong, et al, shows that pollen may not be the best
> food for bees after all. It requires extensive processing on their part to
> make it digestible.

I agree pollen *today* may not be the best food for bees but not for the
above reason stated.

Experiments done by commercial beekeepers have shown that bees being placed
in pollination ( with the chemical contamination the bees are exposed to and
bring back to the hive and store in the comb such as fungicides &
pesticides) will come out of the pollination better when fed pollen
substitute instead of allowing said bees to gather and store such pollen.

Dave Hackenberg explained to me ( phone conversation  a couple years ago)
that his bees survived pollination better when fed pollen patties while on
pollination. Those hives of his in his testing which were not fed pollen sub
patties had problems.

Also commercial beekeepers thought of this without help from researchers.

To sum up pollen sub patties today are fed not only for brood building and
in times of no fresh pollen *but* to now replace poison contaminated pollen
being brought into the hive while bees are on the pollination of many crops.

Before the roar from the nay Sayers please think about the issue. *If* bee
loss in many crop pollinations is improved ( many beekeepers are convinced)
by feeding pollen sub while bees are on the pollination and the end result
is a change in the way these bees come out of the orchards then *perhaps*
the reason *is not* a nutritional thing but simply the result of replacing
the contaminated pollen with a non contaminated pollen source.

Surely the hypothesis should not be hard to comprehend.

Bee Lists are interesting places of opinions and hypothesis but commercial
beekeeping survives today by finding out ways  to keep bees which work.
Feeding pollen sub while bees are in certain crop pollination has improved
bee health.

Two possible reasons:
1. replacing poison pollen with non contaminated pollen

2. nutritional improvement or perhaps as De Jung suggests it requires much
work to make the pollen digestible.

bob

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