> None of today's queens seem to produce bees like 30-50 years ago ( mainly
> before mites) and I am not sure why. Honey crops can be small with bloom 
> for miles in all directions. Not sure why.

I wonder if it is lack of good enough pollen.  With monoculture, the bees 
may not be getting what they need.  In Australia, the beekeepers even pull 
hives off fantastic honeyflows sometimes, just to preserve the bees from 
nitrogen depletion.

I had some patties on hand this summer and fed all August.  I was amazed at 
the results.

The bees ate a pound a week even during the flows.

In a little under a month, I got 90 lbs gain on splits made from hives that 
had already been split this year.  That is amazing.

Granted, the weather was favourable.  Sometimes we would have had a frost.

I also have found that I lose a lot less bees over winter since I began 
supplements in the spring.

Personally, I doubt that for summer supplement that it matters much which 
supplement you use as long as it is fresh. I only know of one highly 
promoted, expensive, product which is rumoured from many sources to be 
ineffective.

At any rate, I think that nutrition may be at the root of many, if not all 
our complaints.  I am also suprised how hard it is to get beekeepers to keep 
feeeding once they see even one load of pollen (or was that sawdust?).

These days, we are told that bees will eat patties shoved in  the entrance 
when  they are strong and the weather is hot. (Not in cool weather, when the 
bees are building up).

Try it on a few hives, folks.  You just might find it works for you.

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