>For the past several years I have been evaluating methods to increase the
>amount of pollen honeybees gathered off of cranberry bogs. This includes
>sugar feeding, wave placement,  egg laying/brood  manipulation, pollen
>removal, hive locations, hive numbers, QMP, use of complementary nectar
>rich plants etc.  Cranberry pollen is not all that attractive to honey bees and
>they will go out of their way to collect anything other than cranberry
>pollen. Some of these methods appear to work some of the time but there is a
>tremendious variation between hives and locations. Getting good consistent
>data is hard.  Any suggestions?
 
 
This is purely hear say but I have heard that the chinese when wanting bees to
forage particular plant species feed a 30% sugar syrup puree containing
flowers of the target species of plant.  It may be an "old wives tale" but give it a
try.
 
Robert Rice
 
Apiculture Services Manager (Sth Island)
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
Lincoln
New Zealand.
 
E-mail  [log in to unmask]