Feeding Bees Pollen Sub ParT 1

I’ve been feeding my bees protein supplement (not exactly with pre-purchased pollen patties, but with pollen powder substitute mixed with sugar and a bit of water to create a “Krabby Patty”). But this morning I found my bees foraging for protein in the crushed chicken feed. Clearly their instinct to go forage for pollen is greater than the convenience of it already being in the hive. So I took some of the powder and placed it out in a shallow dish near some dead out honey frames they had been foraging from. Within 10 minutes of setting it out there was a very loud buzz in the air as sisters told sisters about the powder and they started emptying out of their hives to come collect the protein.

But what does pollen supplementation really do right now? In my Master Beekeeping course at U of MT and my extensive reading, it is postulated that winter bees and young nurse bees eat this protein themselves to replenish the protein stores in their bodies—vitellogenin—that are waning from the long winter trying to keep warm. So this protein can buy you more time by keeping the bees healthy and fed until the pollen flow in the North. If they have started brood, they convert this protein into Royal Jelly to feed the very young also. But do bees actually use pollen substitute to directly feed to the young larvae that have graduated past royal jelly?

A study I recently stumbled across done in Florida discovered that ALL the pollen substitute provided to the hives (dyed blue) was only consumed by the nurse bees and not fed to the larvae. But in early spring in Florida, real pollen is available. And it’s possible the bees prefer real pollen for larvae when present. But what about in the North where no pollen is available yet? Will bees reluctantly feed the sub to the young? Is the long standing rumor that pollen patties make bees start rearing brood a problem simply because they get to day 4 just fine feeding royal jelly as a result of extra protein for themselves, but then there’s no real pollen to rear brood and that’s when Montana bees fall apart? Dozens of beekeepers on the Facebook forums seem to be successfully getting their bees to true spring using pollen patties but they all have pollen flows before us. The Flathead Valley seems to be one of the last counties in beekeeping circles to get pollen. Is it possible that if you bees have not stored real pollen in their hives in the fall that no amount of nursing your bees in early spring will help?

I plan on studying and finding an answer to these questions bouncing around in my brain this week and posting a Part 2 of this article. In the meantime, I am feeding all my hives this protein to hopefully keep the winter bees alive just a bit longer to true spring. As of today, March 16th, there were still several canisters of BeePro powder at the South Murdochs. I’d get you at least one and set it out for your bees!