I just love watching Pete and Bob hammer on each other!  Especially when you
are both right!

Re Matilla and Otis (I'm doing this from memory), they trapped huge amounts
of pollen during their study in an attempt to create a pollen dearth.
 However, most traps only collect about 50% of the incoming pollen.  When I
analyzed their data, the 50% that made it into the hives far exceeded any
amount of natural pollen that I could dream of ever seeing in the fall in
Calif!

So none of their tested hives experienced any sort of pollen dearth, and
supplemental pollen feeding was not economically justified.

Note also that their bees were going into a much colder winter than many of
those waiting to go into almonds, so we are not comparing apples to apples.
 Research by Dr Frank Eischen demonstrated that hives wintered in colder
Calif mountains performed very differently than those in the warmer Valley.
 Valley hives may not form true "winter bees" as are formed in Canada.

The economic value of feeding pollen sub is completely dependent upon the
environment around the hives!

Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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