Hi All/Roger
 
Have been away for a while and am catching up on posts.
 
In response to this question from Roger:
 
> 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.
 
The reason this yeast is called spent is it has run out of fats that
it cannot produce in the absence of oxygen - I suspect these fast are
good for bees, hence if it were to be used for food it would be good
to place the yeast in a bucket, aerate it and give it a little sugar
to reinvigorate it before killing it and feeding it to the ladies.
 
 
> 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?
 
I am not very knowledgable about this but can say that I put some
yeast sediment that was left over from one of the University Beer
brewing practicals into one of my hives, after heating it very gently
to approximately 75C and the bees did not die or abscond or terminate
brood production. In fact all I could tell was that the stuff was not
there a week later.
 
I suspect mixing with crisco may make it more difficult to digest for
the bees.
 
My advice would be to heat the yeast, but not to a high temperature -
just enought to kill it, and try and avoid ascospore formation
(undigestable) and then dry it and feed it to the bees as such. It
may be worth checking the pH just in case the yeast was contaminated
with Lactic acid producing bacteria as this can make the sediment go
down to 2.8 which may damage the bees - don't know that for sure
though.
 
Interesting idea to use the waste!
Keep well
 
Garth
 
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
15 Park Road
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
6139 South Africa
 
Time = Honey