pollen patties anyone?

[keithgrimes]

I'm sure there are lots of opinions on the benefits or otherwise of pollen patties. What are your views peeps?

 

[Rosti]

Easy to be lulled into a false sense of summer! It is late March and currently an un-seasonably warm 19'C in York.

I have put pollen patties on, the purpose is to give the protein they need for brood with all weather access even if the weather turns against them (we are due 7'C again by Friday - case in point). If they cant fly then brood rearing wont stop with patties present. If they run out of collected pollen it's a diff matter.

(IMO) Better to apply patties and throw away come 2nd week April if foraage and weather justifies it.

 

[Poly Hive]

Same applies to syrup.

I was very pleased yesterday to see how much pollen has been collected, and not a little taken aback to see fresh nectar in too!!!

PH

 

[Friar Tuck]

PH if you are feeding syrup how can you tel the difference between stored syrup and fresh nectar ? just wondering?

 

[Heather]

I have got fresh capped nectar! - and on one colony- 2 full frames pollen- sometimes scary to see how quickly they can build when the temperature and conditions are right!!

All coping well and the syrup added this week is not really necessary as food- but I look on it as a water supply to clean the bees also.

But it can all go horribly wrong if we get another long cold spell....Mustn't get complacent.

 

[Poly Hive]

LOL my eye is not that good.

The syrup was made yesterday, the feeders are under test at the moment, no point in putting in a leaking feeder hmm?

So when I pulled the comb that had the patch of glistening fluid in it, it had to be nectar!

Damn: Sherlock would be proud of me...LOL

PH

 

[Friar Tuck]

Ha haha OK i thought you would have has some taste or smell technique

 

[Hivemaker.]

Have fed pollen sub to drone rearing colonys and nuc's,some of the latter now need transferring to full size box's. Plenty of pollen and nectar being brought in now,and many colonys need supers or second brood box's, as on eight or some even ten frames of brood.Will be moving hives to OSR at the end of next week or early the following week.

 

[Poly Hive]

Only one word for that and that is sickening...lol

You guys used to be two months ahead of me in Aberdeenshire but I suppose I can look on the bright side of just a month now...LOL

PH

 

[nottingham]

I dissolve Pollen Patty into inverted sugar syrup and Vita Feed GREEN is added too.

Duncan

 

[RoseCottage]

stupid question time...

I have just bought today 2 Th ornes pollen patty packs. I have placed them above the BB on the QE alongside fondant. I have left them with a scarred surface to encourage my girls. They are face up - is that right? My fondant has been in for a couple of months and the girls haven't really taken any but there have been quite a few dead bodies stuck in it. Would they be keener if it was face down?

Sam

 

[Teemore]

Sam,
A few points.

The colony may still be eating their honey/syrup stores in preference to fondant.

Are you sure that the feed hole is directly above the spot where your colony is clustering? If the colony is at all weak and the feed hole is not directly above their cluster, they may be very reluctant to cross frames and then go up above the crown board to feed (they would be having to 'endure' cooler air). If you have an open mesh floor with an inspection insert, look at where the bulk of wax debris is on the inspection insert and this will tell you where the colony is clustering. If need be, you could rotate the crown board so that the feed hole is closer to the cluster.