Looking for an old-fashioned pollen supplement recipe for spring feeding. Nothing elaborate, just a simple old-fashioned recipe that works.  I never fed before, not sure what works. 

In my area, Black Locust and Tulip overlap, generally starting between the first to third week in May. About 50% of my colonies aren’t reaching proper strength by natural floral sources.  On first sign of Black Locust bloom I supered up all the colonies, giving the colonies that I determined to be of sufficient strength 2 supers and the rest 1 super. I must be getting fairly good at this assessment because all colonies with 2 supers filled them to capacity or near capacity, and the rest did not get a surplus.

The problem as I see it is that most colonies are reaching production strength, about two or three weeks into the major flow, and I am missing out on half the flow. I believe that I can double or triple productivity by supplemental feeding.   

I figure, I should have the bees up to production strength by the first week in May.  How early should I begin pollen supplment feeding so that they will reach this point at this time, and NOT too early. 

I would enjoy also hearing opinion on the Maple Bloom for spring build up.
It appears from watching colony expansion, that the weather affects Maple pollen more than Maple nectar secretion.  From watching early colony growth, even during marginal foraging weather, the bees appear to be able to collect sufficient Maple nectar, but I’m not sure that the same holds true for pollen foraging.  So I feel perhaps an additional supplement for pollen might be a good idea, and let the bees collect natural sources of nectar which seem not to be hindered much by weather.   

Best Wishes,
Joe
South West Pennsylvania  


      

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