Pollen patties may be beneficial in certain regions, but aren’t necessary for every beekeeper. Their use depends on factors like weather, climate and colony size – as well as any decisions related to supplementation that need to be made by each beekeeper.
Pollen patties do not contain actual pollen; rather they simulate it using a mixture of sugar syrup and essential oils such as honeybee healthy or lemongrass oil. The mixture is then compressed between two pieces of wax paper before being served up to consumers.
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Mann Lake Pollen Patties
Mann Lake pollen patties are protein supplements designed to simulate real pollen to increase brood production. Unlike bee bread, which must first be stored before being fed directly to young brood, pollen patties don’t require storage – instead they may be fed directly.
Studies have proven the value of artificial pollen to boost brood rearing and overall hive strength. A good time to use artificial pollen as a pollen replacement is late winter through early spring when many overwintering colonies begin ramping up brood production.
To prepare a pollen patty, mix all of the following ingredients together in a large bowl before shaping into a flat patty approximately one half inch thick. Place this inside your hive, directly on top of frames in the brood chamber. Replace as necessary or when completely consumed by colony members – monitoring their consumption can give an indication as to whether additional protein may be necessary or not.
AP23 Pollen Patties
Honey bee colonies that are low on stores during winter months require high carb feed such as sugar, AP23, or Honey-B-Healthy in order to increase brood numbers, productivity, and ensure strong colonies. This food solution contains sugar, AP23 and Honey-B-Healthy to meet their nutritional requirements and support optimal colony health.
Synthetic supplements designed to mimic pollen’s nutritional composition should be fed to honey bee colonies that lack stored food, so as to prevent starvation during winter.
Late winter feeding with sugar patties may help avoid stimulating brood rearing as strongly, while still providing food. Too many of these patties, however, may lead to overstimulation and cause an excessive number of worker bees; moreover they may attract beetles which feed off them. When feeding honey bees during winter, place one patty per cluster during feeding; this allows bees to access its contents – both sides – simultaneously and access any sugar syrup underneath that may be present underneath the patties as quickly as possible! Place one new patty whenever feeding honey bees during their winter stay!
Honey-B-Healthy Pollen Patties
Pollen patties do not contain actual pollen; rather they mimic its appearance by providing honey bees with protein-rich supplements to produce young bees and maintain strong colonies. They may be used during spring and fall as temporary supplements until natural pollen becomes available.
Honey-B-Healthy patties also contain pollen substitute, providing bees with additional energy while strengthening weak colonies and supporting honey production. In addition, these patties contain carbohydrate energy supplements for added energy boost.
As with any protein food source, pollen patties must be used carefully. Overfeeding may lead to rapid colony expansion that leads to swarming. If you decide to use pollen patties, make sure you monitor your hive periodically and remove any extra patties consumed by bees. They should ideally be placed along top bars near the center of cluster so they’re easily accessible by bees; alternatively they can also be added as bait in swarm traps to attract new bees.
AP23 Plus Pollen Patties
AP23 Plus Pollen Patties are high protein, highly palatable feed supplements formulated to meet all of the protein needs of honey bees when it comes to producing brood and storing winter stores. Furthermore, they include essential fatty acids, minerals and B complex vitamins for encouraging brood production as well as an essential oil feeding stimulant called Honey-B-Healthy to increase bee health and colony performance.
Colonies fed the AP23 patty performed significantly better than their unsupplemented negative controls over 188 days of testing, showing increases in colony strength while unsupplemented negative controls gradually declined until reaching levels comparable to supplemented patty groups.
Place one patty per hive directly on the top bars above each cluster of bees, using its paper wrapper as an anchor point.
