How can we evaluate pollen supplements?

It seems some people have no problems making claims and jumping to conclusions, but to me the problem is far from simple.

One of the things people write to me in favour of a particular patty is that the bees "like" them.  I take that to mean that the bees eat them right up and look for more.  

Obviously, attractiveness cannot be anything but good, since if the bees do not eat the patties, they can do no good -- and they present a disposal problem.  

However, attractiveness is no indication that the patty is actually helping the hive with its protein, vitamin, sterol, lipid... requirements.  After all, bees gobble up  bee candy and it has none of these.  

The simple fact is that bees will eat anything that has enough sugar, so simple measures of consumption are not helpful, assuming that the competing patties are all eaten within a reasonable time-frame.  Kids will eat candy, but we know that candy will not make a complete diet.

I some cases overly quick consumption might mean wastage or that the bees will run out of feed if replacement feed is not delivered promptly, and running out of feed is a stress that can result in underfed larvae or even removal. 

Beekeepers who only plan to feed a little and once should IMO use a slower patty than those who plan to pile it on and keep replenishing it.

So, consumption rate is not an good indicator.  What is?

This is where things get really difficult because each beekeeper has different goals.  Do we want lots of bees, or do we just want the bees we raise to be healthy?  If we want big populations, then we want to stimulate the bees with a patty that the bees will gobble down and we had better plan to provide lots of that patty and lots of syrup if needed.

If we just want to ensure that the brood that the bees are raising are properly fed, then we want a patty that is not as "hot", and which is eaten when the bees feel the need, such as at night and when the wind blows or it rains for a week.

How can we tell if our patty works?  

To me, the fact that we don't see bees with small abdomens, bees starving as they emerge, more robust populations and better wintering tell the tale. 

For others, measuring larger brood areas or demonstrating larger yields may be the target.

For free-flying bees, we will never be able to get an accurate measure, since we do not control the condition of the bees going in, or what they gather, and these things will have a huge effect on what we observe and what the nutritional deficiencies will be.

If you are trying to supercharge your bees, you may try to find a perfect diet, and spend the big bucks, but if you are like me, and just want to provide a fall-back ration and prevent the short-term starvation that so often occurs due to weather, then your criteria will be different.

Given the difficulty in measuring performance, the usual comparisons are made by comparing brood area in spring between hives on various diets and subsequent honey yields.  While these are indicators, they do not tell the whole story, so ideally, the hives should be followed for a year or more to see how they fare.

As time passes, though, the costs and difficulties multiply, so people tend to go back to, "My bees like it".

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