Pollen Patties

[lupester]

A beekeeper gave me his hive and some frozen "pollen patties". What are these patties used for and when do I put them in the hive. How long are they good for?

Thanks,
lupester

[jpitz31]

Bees get protein from eating pollen. many bee keepers feed their bees pollen patties as a supplement in early spring and late fall to provide the bees with needed protein before and after winter.

Keep them in the freezer when not being fed. Place the patties on top of the frames in the hive body.

Thanks

Joe

[PCM]

Bees get protein from eating pollen. many bee keepers feed their bees pollen patties as a supplement in early spring and late fall to provide the bees with needed protein before and after winter.

Keep them in the freezer when not being fed. Place the patties on top of the frames in the hive body.

Thanks

Joe

Correct !!

May I add, I'm sure you know, thaw them to room temperature before placeing on frames. :doh:

PCM

[lupester]

Seriously, I might have put them on frozen. It would have been 100 deg here though and I would have figured they would like a pollen popsicle.

[icodebot]

I was wondering, if you need a shim or will the inner cover fit properly with the patty sitting on top of the frames?

[BEES4U]

Place them between the brood boxes.
Ernia

[icodebot]

I was wondering, if you need a shim or will the inner cover fit properly with the patty sitting on top of the frames?

[jpitz31]

I would press the patties pretty thin and spread them out so the inner cover will fit. If you shim the top cover may not fit correctly.

Thanks

Joe

[Hambone]

Don't beleave the hipe lupester. Best thing to do is to send those patties to me. Let me feed them to a few of my hives and see if they like it. :D

Seriously,

Don't put them on now. They most likely won't take them. They have pollen coming in and will ignore it. Place it in your freezer. Save it. Put it in your hive Jan 1-3rd 2010. ;)