Thoughts on feeding in Winter Months ONLY A Vitamin & Mineral Supplement?

[Ret Sgt Robert Yates]

I am interested in the Scientific side of things what would be the benefits of Feeding Honey Bees a High Protein Packed Vitamin & Mineral Supplement / Patty through the winter to sustain them and keep them healthy ? If anyone has any references ,IE: PDF's, Articles, Journals or anything else I could read about this as well I would love to Have a link to it Please .

Also I would like to have your input as to what you think about the subject as well .

Thank you in advance Fellow Beekeepers .
 

[GSF]

http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,44468.0.html

Here's a link to which Laura has beefed up her sugar water. I've experimented with this but can't really tell the difference. Keep in mind last summer was my second summer keeping bees. The first summer was a June package. I'm going to keep doing this just to see if it works for me. This past summer I was also doing splits and pulling them out of the trees. I bought 4 packages and done 3 cut outs. The rest was splits and swarms, last count 18, not counting the couple of swarms I know I lost and those I think I lost.

...come to think of it, maybe it did work...

[Ret Sgt Robert Yates]

Thank you for the link to Laura's I did know about hers I was hoping others also had some input on this to share with their experiences as well . I look forward to hearing more about your hive growth .

[Michael Bush]

I've always figured if I stick to their natural food I'll have it covered.  I figure assuming that bees need what I need will probably be wrong.  Assuming that anything is or is not good for them would be pure speculation.  So I've never bothered to try to do anything.  I do have horses, and therefore there are mineral blocks out if they want them, plus salt blocks out if they want them, but I've never seen them take an interest.  Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) seems to help syrup keep better (and lower the pH) and is a bit of a feeding stimulant, especially in pollen patties.  But that doesn't necessarily prove it's good for them...  Kids love candy, but that doesn't make it good for them...  There is some research on amino acids out there on bees, but I don't know of any on vitamins in general that has any definite conclusions.

[mikecva]

After Christmas, on a warm day, I will open the hive and put in some left over candy canes on the top box. Since I started this, years ago, I have had loss rates of only 10-15%. I do not say that what I have been doing is the best thing in the world but come early spring there is only small pieces of the candy cane left and the bees are healthy with no ants around. On the other side, I have also had early swarms that have sometimes caught me without a hive or nuc to put them in.  -Mike