> Feeding pollen to caged bees often causes problems.  Not sure why.  We need to be careful about extrapolating caged bee feeding trials to the field.

Right. But on the other hand, winter bees are subject to long confinement and it seems quite clear that pure sucrose is less likely to be a problem, than say: honey with a high percentage of impurities ("ash") or the consumption of pollen when the bees are unable to take cleansing flights. It is obvious that pollen will have more indigestible "waste matter" than pure sucrose sirup. This could easily account for mortality in caged as well as winter bound bees.

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