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View Full Version : How to keep patties from crumbling?



Countryboy
09-09-2009, 10:58 PM
This weekend I made some homemade protein patties. This is my first time making patties. I was making about 5 pound batches in a kitchen mixer, and then dumped each batch into a 5 gallon bucket when it was done.

I used a small grist mill to grind cat food into flour. I would put about a quart of HFCS 55 into the mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the contents of a probiotic capsule, and a dribble of Honey B Healthy - and then add the cat food flour until I got a gooey cookie dough consistency.

It has set up a little thicker since then, but is still reasonably soft. My problem is that when I put a couple big spoonfuls onto waxed paper (about a pound and a half) and roll it with a rolling pin, the patty crumbles when I try to pick it up.

The bees start eating these patties within moments of putting it on a hive.

Do I need to simply scoop it out of the bucket and put it directly on the hive instead of using a premade flat patty? Is there something I should add to the patty to make it stickier?

EastSideBuzz
09-09-2009, 11:01 PM
I used a small grist mill to grind cat food into flour. I would put about a quart of HFCS 55 into the mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the contents of a probiotic capsule, and a dribble of Honey B Healthy - and then add the cat food flour until I got a gooey cookie dough consistency.

How do you keep the local cats out of the hives.? Do you really use cat food.? What recipe is this, I have not seen it before.

Countryboy
09-09-2009, 11:30 PM
I'm trusting the bees to keep the cats out of the hives.

Yes, I really used cat food. :lookout:

It's my own special recipe. The cat food bags say they are a complete nutritional diet for cats - I'm hoping bee's nutritional needs are similar to a cat's. :D

BEES4U had the thread about bee nutritional needs in the commercial forum, and he made the comment that a wise person would take good husbandry from another area and apply it to bees. So I looked at the cat food bag I feed my cat - WalMart Special Kitty. 34% protein and 11% fat. It's made with soy flour and brewers yeast, among other things. Soy flour and brewers yeast us a real basic patty recipe.

I ended up going with Aldi brand cat food. It is 34% protein and 13% fat. It's slightly cheaper than WalMart cat food too.

HFCS $0.40 /pound
Cat Food $0.54 /pound
Probiotic capsules $0.15 /capsule (5 pounds of patty)

Protein patties for roughly 50 cents a pound, plus labor.

fish_stix
09-10-2009, 07:55 AM
Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!! Fish honey! :D