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Meeting Bee Nutritional Requirements

89K views 211 replies 25 participants last post by  BEES4U 
#1 ·
I need a good recommendation of a lab that can do a complete analysis of the contents in our trial formula # 11 which has been field tested and it shows some very good results.:)
Comments are needed.
Regards,
Ernie
 
#29 ·
Ingredients
Chicken by-product meal, ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, ground wheat, soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA and citric acid), brewers rice, natural flavor (chicken and fish), brewers dried yeast, sodium bisulfate, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, monocalcium,phosphate, choline chloride, taurine, fish meal, iron oxide, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, niacin, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, manganous oxide, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), sodium selenite, folic acid, calcium iodate, vitamin D3 supplement, cobalt carbonate.

Here's a an old ratio:
3:1
Where the 3 is soy flour and the 1 is brewers yeast.
HFCS will make your patties more attractive to the bees and it prevent drying out because it's hygroscoptic like honey.

Ernie
 
#30 ·
I bought my Probiotics today.

Where did you get them, and how much did you pay? I purchased 2 bottles of these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380136058757&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT the other day. With shipping I got 240 capsules for $39.49. Sixteen and a half cents each capsule.
They are 5 billion CFU total, plus 220mg of fructo oligosaccharides
Lacto acidophilus 1.25 billion
Lacto rhamnosus 1 billion
Bifido lactis 750 million
Lacto casei 500 million
Bifido breve 500 million
Bifido longum 500 million
Bifido bifidum 250 million
Streptococcus thermophilus 250 million

How do you feed the probiotics to the bees? So far, my method is pulling apart the capsule, and dumping the powder contents into syrup I am feeding to weak hives. Would it be better to mix the probiotic powder into patties?

What rate should we be giving to the bees? (Or are we still at the guessing stage?) I have been using a whole capsule per hive when feeding.

Here's a an old ratio:
3:1
Where the 3 is soy flour and the 1 is brewers yeast.
HFCS will make your patties more attractive to the bees and it prevent drying out because it's hygroscoptic like honey.


I have never made patties. Is there a specific ratio I add HFCS, or do I just mix it to cookie dough consistency?
 
#42 ·
Ernie,

thank you for all the input.

I tried small batches just to see if the bees would take it/ how quickly (using raw egg). I also have some sitting out so I can take a guess as to how long it takes for it to spoil.

One with just the yolk, uncooked,
One with the whole egg (white included)

I didn't see any noticeable difference in consumption rate (also compared to patty w/ no egg)


~Are you using the egg whites/ if not what do you do with them?

~Any more info about the suitability of egg white in pollen sub mix is appreciated.

~Is your protein content calculated or tested? If calculated would you be willing to share info you are using for the hard boiled egg yolk?

thank you.
 
#43 ·
bfriendly,
One with just the yolk, uncooked,
One with the whole egg (white included).Bees can not digest the egg whites.

I didn't see any noticeable difference in consumption rate (also compared to patty w/ no egg)


~Are you using the egg whites/ if not what do you do with them?
I gave most of them to a friend to feed her dogs, i fed some to my dog and I ate some
~Any more info about the suitability of egg white in pollen sub mix is appreciated.
I have some very good information that I will post after my nap today.

~Is your protein content calculated or tested?

If calculated would you be willing to share info you are using for the hard boiled egg yolk?
Here's some of my data that I am currently using.
Calculated: Dried egg yolks are 2gm of protein/5 gm serving where a serving is = 2.5 teaspoons. So, 2gm/5gm = 40% protein
_____________________________________________________

Nutrient Breakdown


ASSAYED NUTRIENT VALUES FOR A LARGE RAW EGG*
Based on 59 g. shell weight with 50 g. total liquid whole egg, 33.4 g. white and 16.6 g. yolk
NUTRIENT AND UNIT WHOLE WHITE YOLK
Proximate
Water 37.66 29.33 8.1
Food energy--calories. 75 17 59
Protein (N x 6.25)--g. 6.25 3.52 2.78
Total lipid--g. 5.01 -- 5.12
Total carbohydrate--g. 0.61 0.34 0.3
Ash--g. 0.47 0.21 0.29
_________________________________________________

Composition of chicken egg yolk
15.86 g./100gms= 15.86 or 16 % Protein.

Chicken egg, yolk, raw, freshNutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 320 kcal 1330 kJ

Carbohydrates
3.59 g
Fat
26.54 g
Protein
15.86 g
Water
52.31 g
Vitamin A equiv. 381 μg
42%
Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.176 mg
14%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.528 mg
35%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 2.990 mg
60%
Folate (Vit. B9) 146 μg
37%
Calcium 129 mg
13%
Iron 2.73 mg
22%
Magnesium 5 mg
1%
Phosphorus 390 mg
56%
Potassium 109 mg
2%
Zinc 2.30 mg
23%
Choline
682.3 mg
Cholesterol
1234 mg
_______________________________

I hope that I didn't give you to much data.

Good Luck,
Ernie:)
 
#45 ·
Ernie,
Could you please elaborate on why toasted soy is preferred vs other options?

Also I have heard several times / read online that one should not use soy meal (I have seen some where the particle size is fine enough), I can not find why you should not use it. I find soy meal listed as an ingredient several places online, such as: here but I wonder if this could be a misprint.

Slick, I have no information to offer about buckwheat, but like you, I wonder about other products (particularly flax as mentioned in another post). I was able to find this: The nutritional value of flax meal for swine

Thanks for all the valuable info in this thread.
 
#46 ·
Here's one source:
http://www.honeybee.com.au/Library/Beefeeds.html



Soy flour – Soy flour is the main non floral protein supplement for honey bees rations.

It comes in two forms, either Expeller press which has 6% soy oil, or Defat soy flour (chemically extracted) which has only 2% soy oil. The crude protein level is 48% 50%. Soy flour is more of an adult bee feed and appears to assist in making adult bees more active while on a honey flow.

Expeller press soy flour is more palatable to the bees than defat soy flour. This was demonstrated in trials conducted on the preference or palatability of protein feed for bees, Expeller press soy flour is good when there is limited pollen available. Defat soy flour is satisfactory when reasonable volumes of low quality ground flora pollen is being collected by the bees.

Most Australian pollens have low levels of the essential amino acid iso leucine. Soy flour has reasonably high quantities of this amino acid, which makes it a useful supplement in supplying additional total protein and iso-leucine.

Soy flour is reasonably cheap being around 80¢/kg. For this reason in any ration it can be used up to ¾ by weight of the total ration.
Regards,
Ernie
 
#47 ·
Here"s another source:
http://www.entomology.msstate.edu/newsletters/bee-news/beenews0306.htm


Several pollen supplements/substitutes have been used but soy flour has been the ingredient of choice because of its attractiveness to honey bees, availability, cost and high protein content. No pollen supplement/substitute entirely replaces the nutritional value of pollen. Because soy flour is low in vitamin B complex, yeast (Brewers, bakers) is commonly added to soy flour in the preparation of pollen substitutes/supplements. Soy flour is produced by a variety of methods, but �expeller proceed soy� (obtainable from Kelley�s) is superior because it has the highest protein level and the lowest level of anti-nutritional factors. Soy flour is either fed alone or as the main ingredient in pollen supplements. Recipes for supplements/substitutes are varied and can be adjusted according to the following:

Pollen - 10-25%

Soy Flour - 20-100%

Yeast - 20-25%

Sugar/honey/water - 20-50%
Regards,
Ernie
 
#48 ·
Do any of you use this , Ascorbic acid, in your Pollen Supplement Patties or do you use lemon juice?

Product Name:
Ascorbic Acid (L-Ascorbic Acid), USP, Food Grade
$135.00/Lb!
I know where there are a lot of ripe lemons and I might stat extracting the juice vs the high price of Ascorbic acide.
Regards,
Ernie
 
#54 · (Edited)
Here's some history on soy protein:

Soy protein {90%protein (N x 6.25) on a moisture-free basis} has been available since 1936 for its functional properties. In 1936, American organic chemist Percy Lavon Julian designed the world's first plant for the isolation of industrial-grade soy protein. The largest use of industrial grade protein was and still is for paper coatings, in which it serves as a pigment binder. However, Dr. Julian's plant must have also been the source of the "soy protein isolate" which Ford's Robert Boyer and Frank Calvert spun into an artificial silk that was then tailored into that now famous "silk is soy" suit that Henry Ford wore on special occasions. The plant's eventual daily output of forty tons of soy protein isolate made the Soya Products Division into Glidden's most profitable division.

At the start of WWII Glidden sent a sample of Julian's isolated soy protein to National Foam System Inc.{today a unit of Kidde Fire Fighting} of Philadelphia,PA which used it to develop Aero-Foam the US Navy's beloved fire-fighting bean soup; and while not exactly the brainchild of Percy Lavon Julian it was the meticulous care given to the preparation of the soy protein that made the fire fighting foam possible. When a hydrolyzate of isolated soy protein was fed into a water stream, the mixture was converted into a foam by means of an aerating nozzle. The soy protein foam was used to smother oil and gasoline fires aboard ships and was particularly useful on aircraft carriers. It saved the lives of thousands of sailors. [1]
In 1958, Central Soya of Fort Wayne, Indiana acquired Julian's Soy Products Division (Chemurgy) of the Glidden Paint Company, Chicago. Recently, Central Soya's (Bunge) Protein Division, in January,2003, joined/merged with DuPont's soy protein (Solae) business, which in 1997 had acquired Ralston Purina's soy division, Protein Technologies International (PTI) in St. Louis. Eighth Continent, an "ersatz" soy milk, is a combined "venture" product of DuPont's and General Mills.

Food-grade soy protein isolate first became available on October 2, 1959 with the dedication of Central Soya's edible soy isolate, Promine D, production facility on the Glidden Company industrial site in Chicago. An edible soy isolate and edible spun soy fiber has also been available since 1960 from the Ralston Purina Company in St. Louis, who had hired Boyer and Calvert. In 1987, PTI became the world's leading maker of isolated soy protein.

Regards,
Ernie
 
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