There is a lot to be said about pollen. A colony consumes about 1 pound a day (453 g) a day just to maintain brood.
In the spring, there is usually an abundance of pollen and putting a pollen trap is a good idea. You can store the collected pollen in the freezer or ferment it with lactic acid bacteria and store it at room temperature. If you are using a pollen trap, keep it 3 days on, 3 days off to allow drone flight and to avoid starving out the colony.
The drawbacks of pollen are that the bees will not move it after it is stored (unlike honey). Pollen storage can quickly plug up a brood nest, so keep an eye on it. You can store pollen frames in the freezer, too. They come handy when you are raising queens, for example. Also, pollen needs to be relatively close to brood as nurse bees will not go very far to look for it.
In the spring, there is usually an abundance of pollen and putting a pollen trap is a good idea. You can store the collected pollen in the freezer or ferment it with lactic acid bacteria and store it at room temperature. If you are using a pollen trap, keep it 3 days on, 3 days off to allow drone flight and to avoid starving out the colony.
The drawbacks of pollen are that the bees will not move it after it is stored (unlike honey). Pollen storage can quickly plug up a brood nest, so keep an eye on it. You can store pollen frames in the freezer, too. They come handy when you are raising queens, for example. Also, pollen needs to be relatively close to brood as nurse bees will not go very far to look for it.
