Feed Bee

[Dave86]

Has anyone on here tried the feed bee pollen substitute at all. My brother is a bee keeper also and bought 2 bags of it so I grabbed 5kg to give it a go.

I made up the patties as per directions on the back of the bag and the bees seem very disinterested in it. I put patties in 1 week ago and they have hardly been touched. I also tried it in frame feeders as a liquid to no avail either. This contradicts everything I read and have been told. I would have assumed that after a week it would nearly be gone.

Im considering feeding it dry as it cost $12.50 a kg and don't want to waste it, but for me I think ill be ringing Terry brown and getting irradiated pollen.

Im not knocking this product at all and it may work well for others but id be interested in hearing if anyone else has had a not so great result from it.

[Richard J]

I have experimented with before I sold out , but now I'm getting back into bees I have been doing some research and things have changed and a lot work has been done.Checkout youtube some good stuff on there

[OldMech]

Dave86,
   If the bees have the ability to get natural pollen they will usually not have much interest in a pollen sub.
  I dont use feed bee, I use Ultra Bee, but the results should be the same. In early spring when they are DESPERATE for anything, you will even find them taking grain dust and sawdust back to the hive... feed them the pollen sub then and they will take it like crazy. As stated, once the natural becomes available you will find they are not as interested. Keep it handy for when they need it.

[max2]

I agree with Old Mech. In our Qld climate we should not have to feed our bees. Don't over-harvest and you should be OK

[Dave86]

I agree with Old Mech. In our Qld climate we should not have to feed our bees. Don't over-harvest and you should be OK

wasn't a case of over harvesting mate, shonky commercial beekeeper sold me diseased nucs, they are very slow to recover as I didn't discover it until the downside of autumn.

newbie mistake and Ill be very very picky as to where I get nucs from now on, no matter how long they have been a beekeeper

[Honeycomb king]

I had better result with feed bee than with bee build, but neither of them rocked my world. Some hives took it, tried it several ways, just made mould if it got any moisture.  That was with no pollen coming in and hives low on stores . Like lots of things in life there is nothing like the real thing. The powder I have left I use when joining hives together etc, makes more sense that talc powder.

[Oldbeavo]

Off topic, but have you tried icing suger instead of Talc powder, bees spend time licking it off and the hive joins well.

[Rooky25]

I drop a good table spoon into my hives in may, june & july (I'm in se Qld),
it is a good winter boost, they will store it if they don't need it.
use it dry, and sprinkle over 2-3 frames in the brood box.

[Geoff]

   The bees are telling you something Dave.

[Dave86]

   The bees are telling you something Dave.

yeah they don't want artificial crap they want the real deal. They are getting it in droves at the minute with the mountain coolabah flowering like mad