All the recent discussion about feeding yeast, and several mentions of "brewer's yeast," raises an interesting question for some of us "small-timers" lurking here in the background: In addition to beekeeping, I also enjoy home brewing ales and meads in small 5 gallon (US) batches. Many home brewers "rack" (siphon) the fermenting liquid out of the primary (initial) fermentation container into a secondary fermenting container in order to improve the clarity of the brew. This leaves behind a considerable amount of "spent yeast" that has settled to the bottom of the primary container -- anywhere from a 1/2 inch to 1+ inch thick paste. Most homebrewers I know just rinse this residue down the garbage disposal, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't try to dry it and feed it to my bees as a pollen substitute to stimulate early spring build-up? (Hobbyist beekeepers who don't home-brew could easily find home brewing enthusiasts through beer-making supply stores, and one pound of honey could be traded for a lot of spent yeast...) I, too, hate spending money unnecessarily, and like the idea of utilizing a "waste" product, if there's some benefit. (A) Would this work? (B) Would there be any benefit in mixing the dried yeast with sugar and Crisco to form feeding patties? ---------- > From: MR GA CAMBRAY <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Yeast - some other info >...my advice to a beekeeper, which is probably dangerous advice > as it is practically untested (I have fed brewing yeast to my bees > and they were there two weeks later) would be to go to the local > brewery and get their spent yeast - find some way of heating it to > 80C for twenty minutes - which will kill it and then feed it directly > to the bees together with a bit of sugar - this is a highly > nutritious, easily degestable sort of thing - and because it has > not been heated to about 95C most of the fats and vitamins will be OK > still - this is similar to pollen - I am sure cooked pollen would be > bad for bees.