Maybe this has been discussed but I didn't see it. My bees seem to be now avoiding my pollen sub open feeder. I don't believe my overwintered hives need any kind of help in this regard but Nucs and packages probably should get something. Anyways...I am sick of dried out pollen patties. Seems so wasteful. I was considering other options. One being just putting the dry powder in some sort of pan with a shim. I was watching a YouTube video and they were mixing pollen in with a candy board. I was wondering if there was a way to make a brick out of mostly pollen. Seems that most of the things I have read were candy boards with some pollen meant primarily as a sugar source. I want something that is primarily a protein source.
Bee bread is pollen mixed with honey and cured. Pollen patty is made with syrup and protein subs to mimic bee bread. so, yes, there will be syrup in it.
But if your bees are ignoring the pollen patty you're putting out for them, they are most likely getting real pollen from flowers, and that is a good thing.
In your shoes, I would stop wasting my money and let them feed themselves.
My overwintered hives have stopped taking it, but even when they were taking it there would be remenants that were all dried up. Maybe 1/4 of the patty. Maybe I'm mixing it wrong or maybe that is just the way it is. I just throw those dry pieces into the woods. Maybe the bees would eat that just fine and I should leave it. Or maybe I should just start spooning some over the top bars and forget about it lol.
As hops said, I would stop wasting money on them. When you inspect your bees in the spring, are they totally void of any pollen in the frames? If not I would stop wasting my money. I never feed and my bees always have way more than they need.
I would not throw the bricks in the woods. If you have SHBs, they will lay their eggs in it and produce thousands of larvae in it.
Jim