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Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: DCHoneybees on January 25, 2011, 01:38:31 PM

Title: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: DCHoneybees on January 25, 2011, 01:38:31 PM

I just received a flyer from Mann Lake that highlighted their Ultra-Bee patties.  I had planned to buy a 40-lb box of patties from them of Bee Pro anyway and am wondering if anyone has any experience with either of these ie. bee acceptance, hive health, early buildup.  What is the difference between the two?  I wondering if it is worth the added 25% to get the premium Ultra-Bee stuff.  I am wedded to Mann Lake for now because of their free shipping deal.
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: VolunteerK9 on January 25, 2011, 01:48:41 PM
Their 'free' shipping translates into them doubling their prices from last year.
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: DCHoneybees on January 25, 2011, 01:58:52 PM
I did notice that but am making them work for it!
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: AllenF on January 25, 2011, 02:45:46 PM
Wasn't you making pollen patties yourself on the website?
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: DCHoneybees on January 25, 2011, 02:58:48 PM
Why yes AllenF.  Thanks for noticing!  But if I do the math on the cost of materials and layer on the time, mess, and freezer space, I think a 40 lb box works out to much better value per pound.  And the pros are formulating.  My patties did do well last fall but I am always looking to be a little lazier especially if the bees benefit!
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: AllenF on January 25, 2011, 03:01:18 PM
I got a freezer of the bought stuff (powder and patties) from Brushy.   Lazy man with free shipping here.   
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: backyard warrior on January 25, 2011, 06:41:11 PM
dadant seems to have some good patty combos with honey b healthy and nozevit in them or just plain patties
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: rdy-b on January 25, 2011, 09:59:30 PM
 right now i would use the pro heath prolean patty from mannlake rather that the ultra patty
there seams to be a problem -which they told me yesterday that they have dealt with-anyway the problem seams to be in the milling process -in my opinion they are not milling the product fine enough-so the result was the bees where dragging the large grains out the front door and left a pile of trash left from the paty -looks like pollen but its not - they wont say what its made of -but they claim no soy-with a high protein content-so my guesses is that it is some sort of cornmeal to get the protein up
the bees did well on them and reared lots of brood -but they need to grind it to a size the bees can manage-there is lot of
EO in there also so very healthy -but consumption was SLOW compared to other formulas -RDY-B
Title: Re: Pollen Substitute Patties - Brands
Post by: DCHoneybees on January 26, 2011, 10:25:16 AM
Great.  Exactly the info I was looking for...THANKS!
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