Pollen patties are a type of food specifically formulated to simulate pollen for bee colonies that don’t produce enough pollen, as well as to encourage brood production or supplement colonies that don’t produce enough protein. Beekeepers commonly use them to encourage brood production and supplement colonies that aren’t producing enough proteins.
A bee patty is composed of dry pollen substitute, sugar syrup and yeast and compressed between two pieces of wax paper to make it easy for bees to consume it.
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Hive Alive Pre-Made Pollen Patties
Pollen replacement patties are an effective way to give bees protein while they wait for natural pollen sources to come in. These pre-made patties typically include sugar, pollen and other ingredients designed for easy ingestion by bees in patty form.
These patties should be placed near the brood nest to help increase brood production for winter survival and strengthen the colony by providing more food to feed bees.
Spot checks were done on some hives and revealed that those receiving patties from us had healthy, solid patches of sealed brood, while positive control hives without patties had none at all, which highlights just how essential feeding bee colonies is during this season – even once natural pollen begins coming in; colonies that received patties throughout summer were better prepared for winter!
Homemade Pollen Patties
Homemade pollen patties can be an effective way to supplement a bee colony with protein-rich diets. To create your own homemade pollen patties, mix some brewer’s yeast with some sugar syrup before incorporating lecithin granules and lemongrass or spearmint essential oil drops as desired. Finish it off by smearing on some white flour – this prevents sticking as you press out into large patties with rolling pin.
At the right time and for the appropriate duration, pollen patties can dramatically boost brood production and future hive population beyond what would occur naturally. But they must only be supplied when necessary – otherwise bees may shred the patty instead of eating it! A great time to distribute pollen patties is prior to spring honey flow – this way bees have healthy brood stocks ready when nectar flow commences.
Dry Pollen Substitute
Colonies that lack quality pollen suffer. Without enough protein in their diet, nurses begin cannibalizing eggs and larvae; broodrearing slows to a halt; and diseases flourish.
There are various commercial and homemade recipes for providing pollen substitutes to honey bee colonies, each potentially having its own impact on colony health and thus being difficult to evaluate all at the same time.
However, one popular method is mixing dry pollen substitute with sugar syrup to form patties that are then fed directly into the hives. Feeding this way requires much less time and effort compared with bulk feeding in a feeder; no disruption to the hives necessary; much safer than placing bees in barrels where disease-causing organisms could spread between colonies; one of many reasons a pollen substitute feeder may be more suitable than syrup feeder for small beekeepers.
Pollen Substitute Powder
Dry pollen substitute powder can be disbursed from a feeder box in your yard, or mixed with sugar syrup and placed directly in hives. It contains essential vitamins, minerals, lipids, antioxidants and other nutrients needed by bees to raise brood successfully; while being free of natural pollen grains as well as animal byproducts and contaminants.
Bees have evolved to specialize in gathering and transporting pollen in its dusty form using special structures on their heads, legs and antennae; however they cannot transport chunks glued together into patties.
Researchers have conducted experiments to make pollen substitute more appealing to honey bees, including adding artificial pollen or nectar into their mixture and fermenting it. Studies on the effect of these dietary additions have yielded mixed results; for instance, some investigators have discovered that colonies fed pollen substitute produced more brood than control colonies (Herbert and Shimanuki 1982); others however found no difference in brood production between control and pollen substitute feedings (Mattila and Otis 2006a). Hemolymph protein titers have also been demonstrated to be higher among bees fed fermented diets versus nonfermented ones (Cremonez et al 1998; De Jong 2009; Moraiset al 2013; Almeida Dias et al 2018; Paiva et al 2019).
