Re Betty's query about pollen trapping, storage and feeding.
 
Firstly, why dry it before freezing?  I have been quoted research that says
that once you dry pollen it losses its crude protein value faster than if kept
as collected.
 
I know a lot of people including myself, who trap pollen and freeze it as
collected and then use it later on for feeding back.  The freezing will kill
any insects including eggs from insects.
 
For feeding, there are several ways.  Firstly, as you have inner covers on
your hives, the pollen can be placed on top of the inner cover and the bees
will come up around it and feed.  Another person I know puts plastic on top of
the frames in the top box, making sure that the plastic is under the lid on
the downhill side with the gap on the uphill side.  This way the pollen will
not roll off the plastic.  The bees can come and collect it.  This method was
used by a beekeeper who was working bees on a summer flow that was pollen
deficient and he felt the bees wintered better than if he had not fed pollen.
 
Another way is to make patties with sugar syrup and feed it in the brood
chamber.  If making patties, you can add extras such as de-fatted soya flour,
torula yeast or brewer's yeast to make the pollen go further.
 
If you are drying the pollen, then grind it up and feed it in the open in a
protected situation.  You will be surprised how readily bees will take it.  As
Kangaroo Island does not have the nasties like AFB, EFB or chalkbrood, open
feeding will not spread disease.
 
The other point to consider is the protein value of the pollen you are
trapping.  Just because there are large quantities coming in doesn't mean it
has a high protein value.  A classic example of this is that bees will collect
large quantities of pollen from pine trees of the Pinus sp. even though its
crude protein level is only around 6%.  You can tell the difference if you
have ever seen bees that come off pine pollen collected from pine plantations.
I accidentally did it one year, many years ago.  Never again.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA