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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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From:
Allen Dick <[log in to unmask]>
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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:54:57 -0400
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> 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.

I have played with various supplements over the years (including a fish meal 
formula a vet friend back in the 70's thought would be the ideal but which 
chased the bees out of the hives) and settled on the formula described under 
the topic 'Protein Nutrition' at 
http://honeybeeworld.com/diary/menus/topics.htm.  It is a pretty basic, 
old-fashioned formula, and sticks to the KISS formula.  It has only four 
ingredients, and the two that are not household items can be sourced fairly 
easily through bee supply houses.

In feeding, the more complex the formula, the more ways there are to go 
wrong.  Even with this recipe, some people buy animal feed brewers yeast 
locally, assuming all brewers yeasts are the same.  Without going into the 
details, which are in the archives, they are not, and some may be toxic. 
The same applies to the soy.  'Sugar' means refined white sugar, but some 
creative people manage to find a sugar that is toxic to bees and use it 
because "it has more stuff in it and that has to be good -- right?" Wrong. 
Even the water can carry toxins, although the amount of water in the formula 
is not likely to cause a problem unless the water is really bad.

The freshness of the ingredients is very important. A study a while back 
demonstrated that stale ingredients can result in feed that does no good, 
and another showed actual harm.  Up to a year is probably OK for storage, in 
cool, dry conditions, but, as with most food, the fresher, the better.

So, the long and the short, IMO, is keep it simple, get everything fresh, 
and from bee supply sources -- not the local feed store unless you really 
want to research the sources, and to take a chance.

Personally, I made patties in our shop for years, both paying wages, then 
piecework, then farmed the job out, and finally found Global ( 
www.globalpatties.com ). They made our patties better than we made them 
ourselves and for less money, and turned it into a business with facilities 
in both Canada and the US, and outlets around both countries.  Because 
Global uses many truckloads of each product, their ingredients are always as 
fresh as possible.

Global makes custom formulae to order as well as their own standard patties, 
and have made patties with all the various commercial, 'secret' formulas --  
BeePro, FeedBee, MegaBee, etc..  They have also made many custom batches for 
various beekeepers with whatever special ingredients people want.  The 
take-home message, however, is that the best selling product is the 
yeast/soy/sugar/water formula described on the web pages (above), although 
many beekeepers like to get their patties with a small amount of added 
irradiated natural bee pollen to increase consumption rates.

In short, there may be better formulae out there, bit the detailed one on my 
site works well everywhere as long as the bees have some natural pollen, 
and, very importantly, never seems to do any harm.  The ingredients are well 
known and well accepted as safe for people and animals.  As far as results 
per dollar spent I doubt it can be beat.  There are other, usually 
proprietary, recipes that have been shown to do marginally better is some 
circumstances, but they are more expensive, more complex, and may include 
secret ingredients.

Personally I have seen nothing to convince me that anything gives more bang 
for the buck with less risk.  There are some home-brew efforts which show 
promise, but IMO do not justify the extra cost and effort, and which also 
may have spoilage problems.  Quite often these efforts are based on theory 
and ideas people get, not time-proven results.

For small amounts, you can make your own quite easily.  The only trick is to 
find and buy the right ingredients and to be sure they are fresh.  Otherwise 
there is the risk of wasting time and money or doing damage to the bees.

As for timing, my rule of thumb is to delay the start of supplement feeding 
until about one brood cycle before a reliable source of pollen is due, then 
feed heavily and continuously until I have supers on and it gets to be a 
nuisance.  That is around the first day of summer, but I am thinking that 
some beekeepers -- especially those on pollination -- should go longer.  My 
bees, regardless of what some say, will eat the patties any time of year 
that they are active, and I *know* that spring patty feeding has improved my 
bee health and wintering success.  Continuous feeding all spring is 
essential IMO, since there are days and weeks when the bees are confined, 
and some hives also don't forage as well as others.







 

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