Neopoll

[Bee-Key-Pur]

A waist of money, if you ask me. Fondant is cheaper...

 

[Cazza]

A waist of money, if you ask me. Fondant is cheaper...

The whole point is that it contains pollen which fondant does not.
Cazza

 

[HM Honey]

The whole point is that it contains pollen which fondant does not.
Cazza

Normal Fondant wont encourage brooding

 

[Sean.]

Hi DaveS,

I've given them some NeoPol a few weeks ago, as it will help them get ready and that won't encourage brood rearing as already mentioned. What it does do and help is getting the fat content up in the workers there, so that when they do come to brood rearing they can do so easier as they can use their fat stores to produce royal jelly.

I've been starting early, as I also want to get mine on to OSR. So I have given them syrup, as they have been out in large numbers in the last week.

This is a slippery slop, as once they start brood rearing it's not easy to slow them down. The risk here is that they could run out of stores until the first flow starts. Hence lots of hefting the hives to keep an eye on them.

 

[HM Honey]

Hi DaveS,
and that won't encourage brood rearing as already mentioned.

Neopoll is a mixture of sugar and pollen mixed as a fondant. Conventionally used as a Spring feed to stimulate early brood rearing. it can also be fed at other times of the year including the Autumn and is especially recommended for queen rearing.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Neopoll is a mixture of sugar and pollen mixed as a fondant. Conventionally used as a Spring feed to stimulate early brood rearing. it can also be fed at other times of the year including the Autumn and is especially recommended for queen rearing.

What is the protein content.

 

[sipa]

2% CP I believe.

It won't do much to stimulate brood production. Neither will it do anything to enhance queen rearing. A much higher nutrient density and a far more balanced feed is needed for that.

 

[Hivemaker.]

2% CP I believe.

It won't do much to stimulate brood production. Neither will it do anything to enhance queen rearing. A much higher nutrient density and a far more balanced feed is needed for that.

Thank you, Sipa.

A waste of money, if you ask me. Fondant is cheaper...

Sounds about right.

 

[HM Honey]

2% CP I believe.

where does that come from? The product manufacturer is very guarded about the ingredients in Neopoll so I assume this is just a guess? I have looked for this info and can find nothing.

Please direct me towards your source because I would love to read more on the product.

Have you ever tried it? Do you have any results to compare to and draw your "opinions" from?

I'm going to give it a go this year and will be replacing the fondant currently on my hives with Neopoll this weekend. I've never tried it so am looking forward to comparing last springs build up with this. I might even just leave normal fondant on two of my four colonies to give me a more accurate comparison.

 

[EKBee]

I had a couple of unused packs of Neopol I put on ekes on two hives, in both cases the Neopol was surrounded by bakers fondant
In each hive the bees ate out the Neopol before moving on to the fondant
This suggested to me that they were voting with their feet & must prefer it
Pity it's expensive

 

[Hivemaker.]

In each hive the bees ate out the Neopol before moving on to the fondant
This suggested to me that they were voting with their feet & must prefer it
Pity it's expensive

Fondant, like syrup, is not supposed to be a protein feed. Have you compared Neopol to another protein feed, preferably one with a much higher protein content for raising brood.

 

[Chrisfnvs]

This question came up at a recent Bee farmers meeting and was answered by a very experienced member who had done a trial alone with another collage, they gave Neopoll to every other colony (of a comparable size) in a few different Apiaries in very early spring, the result was that EVERY colony which had received the Neopoll had at least two more frames of brood compared with the one that did not, giving a considerable boost in work force come Rape time, but as we all know having a big foraging work force is just one piece of the jigsaw, a lot of other variables come into play to give a good Honey crop, so yes i think it is successful and works well increasing brood production but is it worth the extra cost and time,that's up to the individual, i use it for a few that are a bit behind of where i want them to be, only if i want to use them for the Rape or the weather turns for any length of time.

 

[sipa]

Clearly because Neopol does contain SOME pollen it will have an effect on initiating some brood production, but at a very low level.

A good quality Protein supplement should boost brood production by a third.
But you must continue to feed it until adequate pollen is available to fully support the colony.
If they run out, even for a day the bees will pull out the larva and it stresses the colony a lot.

So, if you feed to boost brood, don't stop under any circumstances until the colony is self supporting.

 

[oliver90owner]

A good quality Protein supplement should boost brood production by a third


Shirley, if they already have sufficient pollen stores and are able to forage pollen easily, there will be no increase at all. Brooding rate is limited by the number of house bees in small colonies for servicing the brood (feeding, keeping warm, etc), so I reckon that claim is, to say the least, false.

The line in your post after that claim would appear to directly contradict the claim.

In my book if they don't need carbohydrate I don't feed fondant or sugar syrup - unnecessary; and if they don't need protein I don't feed them with even more as that, too, is unnecessary.

 

[oliver90owner]

the bees ate out the Neopol before moving on to the fondant-This suggested to me that they were voting with their feet & must prefer it

It suggests to me that the bees required more water; nothing to do with anythiing else, like the taste, I would think.

 

[sipa]

No it's not a false claim, and it is a complex subject with a lot of maths involved.
If you feed a GOOD quality supplement which is fully balanced for at least six weeks, royal jelly and brood production will increase, the new bees will live longer and therefore the peak colony size will be far bigger than if you didn't feed.

I'm not saying you should or have to feed, but that is what will happen.

If there are adequate supplies of forage and you don't wish to maximise colony strength then don't bother to feed a supplement, although there are many other benefits of doing so.

 

[oliver90owner]

No it's not a false claim

OK, let's see the evidence as I am inclined to be sceptical and believe that if they already have more than enough, expansion will already be at an optimum.

Not forgetting that many out there will get early swarming by feeding too much carbohydrate and ignore brooding space, but that is another clouding issue. I just love the claims that the bees swarmed early because ... of any other reason than the fault of the keeper.

 

[sipa]

It's all about stimulating the hypopharangial gland and increasing royal jelly production. That has significant knock on effects throughout the colony over time.
Increasing longevity, boosting immunity and survivability therefore increasing colony size.

 

[Hivemaker.]

There is some information on nutrition here among other places.

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/bee-nutrition/

 

[mbc]

the bees ate out the Neopol before moving on to the fondant-This suggested to me that they were voting with their feet & must prefer it

It suggests to me that the bees required more water; nothing to do with anythiing else, like the taste, I would think.

Its well known that pollen has phago stimulants which encourage bees to feed, many pollen substitutes are next to useless without the addition of some pollen, when suddenly the bees are interested and get the benefits of the protein in the supplement.