> I was thinking of using a well known pollen supplement  as a cell rearing 
> stimulant seeing as it had "all the 10 major type proteins necessary for 
> complete bee nutrition" I am not quite as eager to do so now.

Supplements are not recommended for use in queen rearing,, at least 
according to Steve Tabor.  Pure pollen is what is recommended, although some 
tell me they use supplements with apparent good results.

A caveat, though: I have purchased cells from queen producers with good 
reputations and found the cells came *nowhere* near our own standards for 
feed in the cell and size, so when it comes to queens be careful what you 
believe and who you trust.  I'd trust Steve Tabor's advice on that point 
until I had a chance to do a limited test.

I don't know of any supplement that does not offer "all the 10 major type 
proteins necessary for complete bee nutrition".  Unfortunately that is not 
all there is to it.  The picture is much more complex, and the history of 
the bees being fed as well as any other food sources contributing while 
feeding confound the issue.

> I think many of these protein supplements do what they are supposed to in 
> stimulating brood production and are great products,

Personally, I think the emphasis on brood production causes people to miss 
the point entirely.  Brood production is a desirable end in itself, but is a 
*symptom* of bee health and the nutritional picture.  To me the goal of 
feeding is to enhance bee health *overall*.  Enhancing bee health on a 
continuous basis results in a better chance of achieving all the other goals 
we seek, and that should be the goal of supplemental feeding.

> but your comment about 2 brood cycles being the max you can raise on 
> pollen supplement alone makes it clear that we havent arrived.

This has always been a problem with supplementation.  Whenever it has seemed 
that that limit has been exceeded, it has been found that the bees were 
somehow enhancing the feed, either from their own bodies, from stores, or 
from the environment.

allen

 

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