Pollen Substitute Patty questions

[The Whale]

This is my first winter with my girls. So far one of our hives looks pretty healthy and the other looks pretty weak  :(  - but alive! We have put fondant cakes on each hive.

I have learned that it is important to feed them a pollen substitute at this point in the winter. The components I have to make mine are the special soy flour, skim milk powder and yeast.

Do I need to add sugar to the mix as well, and if so, how much?

How large/thick should the patties be?

As far as water goes, how moist do the patties need to be?

Can they be placed directly on the frames or should they be put on waxed paper?

Thank you for your advice on this. I can't tell you how much help your posts have been to us during our first year of beekeeping! Ya'll are wonderful!!!

Linda in Nashville

[Mici]

most of your questions are answered here and there's even more information.
somewhere i read they should be as moist as possible, made my last a bit to moisty. they can be put directly onto the frames but in case bees won't like it, you'll have a hell of a mess to clean up!

[Finsky]

You need irradiated pollen. 20% is good.

Milk flour gives no advantage. Yeast and soya is enough.

Patties need allways 50% sugar that they will not ferment or get mould.

Mici says that you may get hell mesh. .........In this case you need to learn to make such a patty that bees are willing to eat it.   :-P
Allways in cooking: make tasty food!

[Mici]

checked my 2 hives, in which i inserted the pattie. in one i gave 600g in the other only 400-this one doesn't look so good. anyway, after less than a week, they ate all 600g, but the others ate...maybe a half, and the other half developed some mold, but from looking at it, it looks like the mold grows on top, so it's safe, it's on the outer side of the pattie. the one that ate it all, got a new at least 500g pattie. slowly the difference in pattie/without pattie hives is starting to show.

oh, and it0s fun observing them how they drag large pieces of paper out!