Alida Francisco Janmaat wrote: > I spoke to a beekeeper from Alberta who would supplement his colonies with > pollen, only to find that chalkbrood became a problem. I suspect that > the colonies responded to the addition of pollen by increasing brood > production above that which the adult bees could keep warm. It's possible > that spores were present in the pollen, but I think that spores are > present in the colony at all times, and chalkbrood only becomes a problem > when the colony is compromised in some way. I used to collect pollen and market it commercially. However, the pollen trays could become heavily contaminated with chalkbrood mummies, which the pollen cleaning machine could not separate from pollen pellets. They were about the same weight, although slightly larger in size. I had to sort through the entire collection of pollen by hand every day, picking out the chalkbrood, and I'm almost certain some was missed despite my best efforts. That's the main reason I gave up on pollen, even though it was much more lucrative than honey. I just didn't have the time and patience for it. I bring this up because I would bet that much of the above problem could be traced to pollen contaminated with chalkbrood mummies, or at least the fungus spores rubbing off of them. Even though I know that pollen is the best food, I only use artificial supplements now because of my fear of contaminated pollen. Ted Fischer Dexter, Michigan USA