On Thu, 21 Mar 1996, Kevin & Ann Christensen wrote:
 
> We have been feeding our bees Bee-Pro in the spring for a few years.  Bee-Pro is supposed to be a high protein pollen substitute.  It is made by Mann Lakes bee supplies.  They claim that it promotes brood rearing prior to the availablilty of natural pollen.  I know that it keeps the bees out of the farmers' cattle and pig feed.  We don't get anymore calls from farmers, upset about the bees in the spring.
>
> I'd like to know if anyong using this product has seen a noticable increase in brood rearing that can be atributed to Bee-Pro.  Has anyone studied the contents of the product to see how the proteins compair to real pollens.  Any comments would be appreciated.
>
 Hi Kevin , I use bee-Pro in the spring as part of a mixture of pollen
and brewers yeast. I have not had the Bee- Pro checked to see if it had
soy  flower in it as a protein source. I have been told by Steve Taber
that soy flower was harder for the bees to digest than pollen. I run my
mixture 50% pollen ,25 % Bee-Pro and 25 % brewers yeast thru a blender. I
put 1 pound of podered sugar in 10 pounds of mix. I will put it out when
we have a good flying day in Feb. I put it out at about 3 pounds a day
unless they are taking it in very fast. I put out this year 5 pound a day
for 3 days in a row. That was for 30 hives. The 30 hives did take in 30
pounds of the mix in feb.
 I do freeze fresh pollen and use that on some special hives for drone
production.I do that in Jan and put in a little at a time two or three
table spoons at a time. I belive that fresh pollen is the best. Not all
pollens are alike.  That is a complete subject by itself.
 I have some hives in 3 deeps right now , with brood in all three boxs.
It helps out in the apiary when you can get a frame of brood and add it
to a hive that need a little boost. If the small hive has a disease treat
the disease before you waist a frame of brood on them.
 I don't know how well Bee Pro will do by itself.
Good Luck
Roy