>> I received several replies off-list, and it seems people know which product I mean without my telling them. Interesting.

> Allen could you please let me know what product are you talking about (either here on forum or send me an email) so I do not buy it. Thanks

I try to be discreet, and the fact is that I don't know everything, so out of fairness to those supplying and distributing products, I hesitate to name names.  

My message is to ask around, try products, and be aware.  What works in  my situation or region may not work in yours.  Imbalances in protein profiles of local pollens vary with the locale and the season.  Just because a product has repeatedly failed in trials does not mean that it will not excel in the future.

Except for the suppliers who make standard, traditional formulas and state the ingredients, we have no idea what is in the product being currently marketed -- or even if two batches are the same.  

Even with those who use simple, traditional recipes, their suppliers may change and there can be subtle changes from batch to batch.

If you care to guess and write me off-list, I will indicate whether or not we are talking about the same product.  Keep in mind, that my experience is in the *past* and it takes time for word to travel if a previously mediocre product has improved.

The take-home here is that we must all be observant and network with others to know what is working currently.

Personally, I use a basic yeast/soy/sugar/pollen patty.  I am conservative by nature and these patties are cheap and good.  

I could have any patty on the market, and there *might* be better products out there, but I know what I am using here, the benefit/cost ratio is good, and the risk of introducing unknown materials into my hives is low.

I dream of running an international co-operative bee feed comparison test with beekeepers allover running a standard test with several different products at each site, but I'm too lazy.  I figure our best bet is to keep pressure on the producers to date their products and to state ingredients -- and to encourage local researchers to run some comparative tests locally.

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