Allen,
Regarding fresh pollen - the bees themselves obviously have adopted a 
method that allows for the storage over a period of time.

Would be interesting to have information on the nutritional levels of 
fresh pollen as collected by bees, that which has just undergone 
fermentation in the comb and again that after storage from autumn and is 
to be used for brood production in the following spring.

One individual in France - Patrick Percie du Sert, if I remember 
correctly found that his pollen for retail sale was conserved when 
packed in an atmosphere of gaseous nitrogen.

Presumably this restricted oxidation of the different "components".

Buy a bag of Crisps (Chips)- and they too are conserved in what I 
presume is a gas protecting against oxidation.
Many products are now dealt in the similar manner - Polyfilla, fruits 
come to mind.

Products come with a Best before date / sell by date and a recognized 
list of components.
The purchaser knows what he/she is getting and when it should be used by.

Beekeepers have the problem in accurately indicating what the 
nutritional needs for bees actually are. Granted this is now being 
investigated and answers are coming on line.

There appears to be many recipes (ranging from the level of good old 
snake oil to those that one would put some trust in).

I would wish to see the following indicated on the pack of any product 
being sold as Pollen substitute:

Date of Manufacture
Best before date
List of recognized ingredients and a unit (international scientific 
unit) of quantity present per kilo of product as present in the package 
  at date of manufacture.

List of nutrients as supplied by the ingredients present in the package 
- again indicating quantities present.

If this information was backed up by widely recognized knowledge of what 
a colony of honey bees requires to generate one frame of successful 
brood - then objectives could be calculated for.


Natural pollen is available on the market for purchase by beekeepers.
A common request is for it to have been irradiated to limit the transfer 
of brood disease.
I have a concern relating to the source of the pollen and the phyto 
sanitary regime of the plants from which the pollen was collected.

Are pollens tested to ensure that they are free from pesticide 
contamination before being used as a supply for bee nutrition?

The regimes that are present in some countries would indicate that this 
is a limited risk if product labels have been followed by farmers - but 
in other jurisdictions that are more lax regarding application times and 
procedures as well as the use of compounds that are not universally 
recognized lead me to ask if lower cost may result in running a risk.

Realizing that this mail is a rambling affair - but electronic 
conversations are better than nothing.

Regards,

Peter

PS: Snow today, with temps down to -15 C. forecast for the next few days.

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