Built to increase brood production and promote health and longevity. Packed with essential proteins, sugars, vitamins, and minerals.
As pollen dearth conditions worsen, providing additional protein sources is crucial in order to avoid nutritional deficits that could result in the brood being cannibalized by cannibalism. There are various methods available for feeding dry bee feed.
Contents
Protein
Protein is essential to honey bee health, and any shortage can lead to various disorders including broodlessness. Many beekeepers provide their colonies with protein feeds or substitutes when natural pollen sources become scarce; these supplemental feeds may contain real or synthetic pollen and should be offered dry form using weather protected feeders on the hive.
Protein consumption by honey bee colonies varies, depending on factors like availability of natural forage, seasonal changes, size and health of their hive as well as colony health status. But one thing remains certain – colonies receiving additional feed containing essential amino acids will produce more brood than colonies not receiving such supplementations.
Carbohydrates
Dry feed provides an alternative to sugar syrup that doesn’t contain disease-inducing pesticide residues; additionally, it serves as an effective distraction from aggressive “robby” foragers who often start picking on each other at the entrance during foraging trips.
Carbohydrate supplement feeding may be required of colonies with depleted honey reserves and may help stimulate queens to start laying and raise more brood if pollen availability is insufficient.
This high protein pollen substitute can be fed dry in an outdoor feeder or made into patties for placement inside the hive, providing bees with essential lipids, minerals and B-complex vitamins for producing larval food production. Available in one pound canisters, 10 pounds pails or 50 lb bags.
Fats
Beekeepers sometimes add fats to the protein mix in order to promote comb building. Fats also aid the bee’s digestive system.
As any rancher knows, livestock tend to do best when eating what their bodies were designed to digest. Although bees may fly two or three miles forage hunting trips can yield limited net returns.
Protein supplementation can make all the difference when late summer flowers have become scorched-dry and broodrearing has been limited, leading to reduced broodrearing rates and yield. Many beekeepers feed powdered soy flour or yeast (sometimes with added brewers yeast for its B vitamin complex benefits ) into their beehive for supplementation; as soon as bees collect this pollen-like powder they carry it back for use within their colony hive.
Vitamins
Protein supplements or pollen substitutes should not be seen as replacements for natural pollen; they simply serve to supplement bee nutrition when weather conditions prevent them from collecting enough nectar or pollen for survival.
According to research (Mizrahi and Lensky, 1997, Schmidt and Buchmann 1992 and Zafra 1979), bee pollen is abundant with B complex vitamins (thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and pyridoxine) along with other essential elements such as carbs, minerals, fatty acids and phenolic compounds.
Many beekeepers use recipes to formulate their own high-protein supplements for bees. Once prepared, it can be formed into patties or spread across frame top bars as a cake; wrapping it in wax paper prevents moisture loss so bees can consume it easily.
Minerals
Ultra bee is specially formulated to provide honey bees with all of the nutrition they require for healthy bees, with high protein levels, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins needed to keep their health at optimum. Available in 1-pound canisters, 10-pound pails or 50-pound bags.
In this study, the mineral composition of seventy bee pollen samples was assessed for essential elements and inorganic contaminants using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Analysis indicated high levels of essential elements like calcium, iron, copper, chromium manganese molybdenum potassium phosphorus.
Furthermore, it was noticed that the concentrations of certain minerals varied depending on when harvesting took place, likely owing to changes in amino acid content.
