> By the way, I don't think pollen supplements are the answer to
nutritional deficits. This whole topic was described in great detail in:
DeGrandi-Hoffman, Gloria, et al. "Honey bee colonies provided with natural
forage have lower pathogen loads and higher overwinter survival than those
fed protein supplements." Apidologie 47.2 (2016): 186-196.

I'm not clear as to how much can be learned from the above-cited study.  It
was performed on small numbers of weak hives over the course of the cool
winter in Arizona.  Temperatures weren't included in the paper, but average
highs are typically barely above flight temp. The colonies started at
4-frames strength, and fed 30% sucrose syrup continually (not the best
concentration for winter feeding).  The colonies fed pollen sub had pollen
traps on, but consumed only about 1/8th lb of pollen sub per week--hardly
enough to get excited about.

Not surprisingly, none of the colonies grew in strength, and there was no
difference between those on a rapini nectar and pollen flow, and those fed
either of two pollen subs.

Now, as a California commercial beekeeper whose livelihood depends upon the
feeding of several thousand pounds of pollen sub during our extended dearth
periods, I can emphatically state that the feeding of a high-quality pollen
sub can indeed cure nutritional deficits.  It's like waving a magic wand
over the colonies--within days, jelly production and broodrearing increase
dramatically, as does brood survivability.  Colonies fed sub can go into
winter in great shape.

I've yet to publish the results of a large-scale trial that I ran last
summer, but found that colonies fed over a nearly 6-month pollen dearth
(Aug - Feb) in California, grew on pollen sub nearly as well as those fed
protein content-matched patties of mixed natural pollens, and far more than
controls fed sugar-matched patties alone.
-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html