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Can I feed Pollen patties right now?

5K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  camero7 
#1 ·
Can I give my bees brood builder patties right now. To stimulate them. Also is it a good Idea to feed them HFCS right now? And where can I buy Corn syrup bulk in Oregon/Washington
 
#2 ·
Feeding bees the right pollen sub will give you stronger hives next spring assuming you got young queens and mites knocked down.

Call this # and ask for syrup in Portland. 1-888-553-8393
You could also try Mann lake. They have syrup in Kent I believe.
 
#4 ·
You can buy a box of protein patties from Mann Lake, though I question why you woul;d want to. Seems like there aught to be pollen coming in from the environment. I don't know if it is a good idea to do that now. You may not get the results that you are hoping for. It's not that instantaneous.

I think you may be trying to control something you don't need to. Bees make better beekeepers than beekeepers make bees.
 
#5 ·
You can buy a box of protein patties from Mann Lake, though I question why you would want to. Seems like there aught to be pollen coming in from the environment. I don't know if it is a good idea to do that now. You may not get the results that you are hoping for. It's not that instantaneous.
I'm feeding all my nucs with pollen patties although we're getting a good pollen flow. I believe they survive the winter better with good fall feed. You need to make sure your mite counts are low too.
 
#11 ·
It certainly will not hurt to feed protein, but don't feed more than they can use. Check to see how much pollen they are hauling in and how much is in the hive -- there must be a fair amount this time of year as the winter dearth will be starting and if they don't have enough, you get weak bees.

Our climate here is different, but we've had good luck with a pound per hive of pollen supplement in September, fed in smaller amounts (hive beetles love it too). Nice fat bees make for nice clusters and plenty of resources for making winter brood and hence large, strong hives in spring.

Peter
 
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