What is the purpose of pollen patties? My mentor has never used them and said I don't need them. How do I know, I don't need them?
They provide pollen for brood growth when pollen is not available. Most use them for late winter early spring build up of brood. Don't use them when it is warm out if you have SHB. You will loose your hive.
Depending on your climate and your SHB problems and other things like how that spring goes, they can make no difference or a lot of difference. Usually we have enough early pollen around here and it's timed correctly anyway, so it's usually not that helpful, but some springs it helps to have pollen. I just open feed pollen when I see a pollen dearth and decent flying weather...
Quote from: AllenF on August 09, 2010, 11:41:12 AM
They provide pollen for brood growth when pollen is not available. Most use them for late winter early spring build up of brood. Don't use them when it is warm out if you have SHB. You will loose your hive.
Allen, what is the connection with SHB? Why would you lose your hive?
I can answer that as I'm an expert at losing hives to SHB. The SHB are drawn to pollen and honey like flies to manure! The adults lay their eggs in the pollen patties and very soon you have thousands of SHB larva in the patties and trying to get into the frames of honey and pollen. If you're in SHB country, and I believe NC has them, use very small patties, 1/2 lb to 1 lb, so the bees will consume them before the SHB get into them. And watch them carefully; at the first sign of larva get them out of the hive or you will be a very distraught beekeeper!
"like flies to manure!" That's about the truth. I use patties in Feb. and March and only use a half a patty per box at a time. On nucs later in the year, I use only very small pieces and check it every couple of days. Maybe if we did not cut all the maples down years ago.........
And they use patties on SHB PVC traps as bait to lure the beetles in.