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> >Recent research shows that stored pollen may be unfit as food for bees


Before this gets spun too far, there is abundant evidence that at least
some common pollens, when fermented into beebread in fall, are of huge
benefit to the bees when they initiate broodrearing before the first tree
pollens become available.

In fact, Lloyd Harris tracked one colony in Manitoba that by utilizing its
stored pollen reserves, actually came out of the shed with more bees than
it went in with.  It grew its population during the winter.

We California beekeepers well know the value of placing hives on
Rabbitbrush in fall, and Farrar clearly found benefit of fall pollen stores
when wintering hives in Wisconsin.

Pete, I know that you fully understand this, but didn't want your post to
get misinterpreted.  Stored fermented pollen is less preferred by the bees,
and likely less nutritious, and in some cases may cause dysbiosis, but we
should be clear that it is not necessarily unfit as food.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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