Pollen waste

gaucho10 · April 27, 2009, 08:03:51 PM

A my bees are coming in to the hive they are going over my Screened Bottom Board. In the process I am finding a lot of pollen pellets along with all the varoa mites and some other waste. I was thinking of returning the pollen pellets to the hive by placing them at the hive entrance. Apparently nothing is happening with it. Anyone know how to interest the bees into taking the pollen. All that work for some poor bees that just did not make it into the hive :(

Bee Happy · April 27, 2009, 08:27:25 PM

tag. posting so I can watch the replies, I had the same question myself.

Brian D. Bray · April 27, 2009, 11:37:57 PM

Quote from: gaucho10 on April 27, 2009, 08:03:51 PM
a my bees are coming in to the hive they are going over my Screened Bottom Board. In the process I am finding a lot of pollen pellets along with all the varoa mites and some other waste. I was thinking of returning the pollen pellets to the hive by placing them at the hive entrance. Apparently nothing is happening with it. Anyone know how to interest the bees into taking the pollen. All that work for some poor bees that just did not make it into the hive :(

Once the pollen falls from the legs of the bee it is usually ignored. One minor drawback of SBB is that it does cause pollen drop. If you want, use the mite board to collect the lost pollen and then save it for later feed back to the bees when it's needed. Meanwhile, the ants will haul off the pollen that drops to the ground.

gaucho10 · April 28, 2009, 07:33:41 AM

Any idea what the "shelf life" is of pollen. I bought a can of pollen for human consumption 3-4 years ago and I kept it closed all this time. I'm wondering if it has any nutritional value left in it.

abeeco · April 28, 2009, 04:19:34 PM

I have heard that pollen does loose it's nutritional value quickly- best if stored in the freezer

feeding "store bought" pollen back could be a bad idea in regards to afb

oldenglish · April 28, 2009, 04:26:02 PM

Quote from: gaucho10 on April 28, 2009, 07:33:41 AM
Any idea what the "shelf life" is of pollen. I bought a can of pollen for human consumption 3-4 years ago and I kept it closed all this time. I'm wondering if it has any nutritional value left in it.

If it is the dried out kind it should still be ok for consumption, however it loses a lot of its beneficial properties when they dry it. Frozen is better.

gaucho10 · April 28, 2009, 09:39:48 PM

It was an expensive investment but I think it will do better in the trash...thanks.

Scadsobees · April 28, 2009, 11:10:20 PM

We did the same thing...got a few pounds to eat, and then found out what it tasted like :roll: It took me 3 years to finally convince myself to dump it. $$$ :(

gaucho10 · April 30, 2009, 04:04:34 AM

Dito, Scadsobees...

The farmer/beekeeper told me that it was supposed to be good for you and that it would taste good with cereals and milk. Not so!

Scadsobees · April 30, 2009, 08:55:49 AM

And I would have fed it to the bees, but not being UV sterilized I didn't want to risk it. At least I know that I'm not the only gullible schmuck out there :-P :-D

But I got a nice sturdy blueberry picking pail out of the deal....

Rick

Rebel Rose Apiary · April 30, 2009, 04:18:31 PM

There are supposed to still be benefits in older pollen but to a much lesser degree. If it is in the form of pollen pellets, it can be milled down with a blender, etc. until it is as fine as flour. Use 1/4 cup to each 2 cups of flour in breads, muffins, panckes, etc. I found this in a health food book that I got some years ago; it was published back in the 70s.

I use lots of local, natural 'pelleted pollen' for the treatment of my asthma and allergies. SO far, it has really been great and I have had better health overall.
Not one cold since I started taking pollen and I have not had the flu either now that I think about it.

You have to build up a tolerance to pollen....take a few grains of the fresh pollen at first! Too much is too potent for most people. The fresh stuff is not dried and should be keep frozen until it is used. It has not had the moisture removed from it and without drying, it might have some spoilage. If you experience any itching in tht throat, then back off on the amount of pollen you ingest and very slowly build up to around 2-4 tablespoons of pollen daily.
It is not that bad really! It just takes some getting used to and some pollens are not as tasty as others are.

Brenda

gaucho10 · April 30, 2009, 07:59:03 PM

Cough, cough, cough, breath, cough, atchu!!!! Ohh that stuff is terrible....WHy didn't you tell me that before I took a taste?

No , I'm just kidding Rebel Rose Apiary... :-D

I threw the stuff away this morning and I will never find out what it was like.