Hello!
Just curious if anyone feeds pollen patties in the fall...thinking about it here. Seems they were bringing in tons of pollen, but not much stored for winter. What is the recommended amount?? In my 3 hives they have about 2 med. frames a piece of pollen. Mostly on the outer walls..And - should I move these pollen frames in?? I think I remember reading somewhere that pollen on the outer walls can mold over winter?
Thank You!!
Quote from: charlotte on September 09, 2009, 10:44:10 PM
Hello!
Just curious if anyone feeds pollen patties in the fall...thinking about it here. Seems they were bringing in tons of pollen, but not much stored for winter. What is the recommended amount?? In my 3 hives they have about 2 med. frames a piece of pollen. Mostly on the outer walls..And - should I move these pollen frames in?? I think I remember reading somewhere that pollen on the outer walls can mold over winter?
Thank You!!
Check them goin into winter and in the winter,see what they have,feed them if they need it.
How much should they have stored for winter? :? I am getting them ready for winter now. Can't open the hives up much in Oct. Starts to get too cold here.
Only larva eat pollen. Adult bees do not. If you have enough to last until the queen quits laying, they won't need any more until she starts again in Jan. or Feb.
Thank you! Guess I should be set then, as they are still bringing some pollen in too. :)
Quote from: charlotte on September 09, 2009, 10:53:48 PM
How much should they have stored for winter? :? I am getting them ready for winter now. Can't open the hives up much in Oct. Starts to get too cold here.
Where you live,what they need is honey. They woun't need much pollen now. They don't raise brood in the winter. When bees are working they live about a month and a half and they live all winter once they stop work.
In the south they raise brood all winter but not in the north. They only need pollen for the brood.
Thanks everyone! I didn't realize that the adults did not eat pollen. I'll put a pollen patty on in early spring to give them a boost with brood rearing... :bee:
They will start in January here in the South to start raising brood. I put "Global Patties" on in December last year and used three patties by the end of February. My hive was busting with bees. I will use them again this year probably starting again in December. We have had mild Winters for a few years now and this may have contributed to them being successful. I made grease patties and had a problem with SHB larva. I won't do that again. I didn't have any problems with the global patties.
Mark
You were lucky. SHB love Global patties. I remove any amount of Global patties not consumed after 7 days. They will be full of SHB larva. I still use them, because they work well, but SHB will get into them quickly.
Quote from: iddee on September 09, 2009, 10:59:22 PM
Only larva eat pollen. Adult bees do not.
well, not exactly. nurse bees eat pollen to supply the proteins needed to produce royal jelly and brood food in the hypopharyngeal glands. some pollen is fed directly into the cells of older workers as well. in all cases, fermented pollen (beebread) is preferred, as it has twice the water soluble protein of fresh pollen.
so yes, pollen is only needed for rearing brood (it provides the proteins with which to build a bee), but it is eaten and processed by adult bees.
deknow