> There has been a lot of work done in Australia on the protein content of our
> various pollens.  This has been funded by our Honeybee Research and
> Development Council.  It has been the case that certain pollens that were
> thought to be alright have turned out to be deficient in certain amino acids.
> We have a general deficiency of iso-leucine in most of our eucalypt pollens.
>
> There have been several projects which look at the body protein in certain
> areas.  There has been work done on looking at the body protein when certain
> pollens are coming in.  The pollen was also checked.
>
> The reference used to measure body protein was:-
>
> McKenzie, H. and Wallace, H.  (1954).  The Kjeldahl determination of
> nitrogen. Aust. Jour. Chem.  7 : 55.
>
> Allen, if your librarian in Canada cannot get a copy, let me know and I will
> source a copy for you.  Also, if you are interested in a copy of some of the
> trials, let me know and I photocopy one for you.
 
Thanks.  I've never tried using the library to get such articles, and I've
often wondered how people get copies of the research they need to evaluate
a project.  I' guess I've been vaguely aware that this is how it is
done, but never tried before.  I'll give it a try and see how it works.
Thanks.
 
> When I was on the Honeybee Research and Development Council, we recognised
> that there needed to be a lot of work carried out on pollen protein
> determination.  I believe it was worthwhile and has raised the awareness of
> beekeepers.  Many are now supplementary feeding to overcome deficiencies in
> some of our pollens.
 
It's the supplementary feeding that I wonder about.  I have played with it
in the spring before, and concluded that the last tiem I tried it that it
did more harm than good.  But I think I started too early on that
occasion.  They built up somewhat, then dwindled, and I blamed it on the
supplement.  It could have just been a long winter.
 
 From my experience this year, I am realising that the dwindling is likely
the result of the bulk of the population of the bees simply growing too
old.  It seems that a large number of bees last the entire winter, then,
in the last month or so, simply die of old age, reducing the populations
suddenly.  We had a number of late splits look very fairly good a month
ago, then suddenly totally depopulate, while stronger colonies in the
same yard held up.
 
What I wonder is how you manage to feed supplements - as you mention - and
if you have problems with competition from natural pollen that results in
wastage?
 
Thanks for the tip.
 
Allen