Order from Mann Lake

[craneman54]

I got my order yesterday. Free shipping and all my order was there and in good shape.

I will be ordering more from Mannlake as the need arises.

[Redbug]

Mann Lake has about the best customer service I have seen. I contacted them a couple times on orders and was very satisfied both times.

[rookie2531]

capt44 How do you use the dry stuff? If you don't mind sharing.

I might be speaking out of school, but since capt. Not been back to reply, I think you can just put it out in a cookie pan or even mix it with syrup and give it to them as liquid or mix it more dry and make patties with it. That's what I'm going to do and see which way they take it better.

[Maggiesdad]

He posted with pics in it's own thread today...

[specialkayme]

I've always had good service with Mann Lake. I can get better shipping times with Brushy Mountain (based mainly on my location), but no one can beat ML on their prices when you compare the quality.

I've also consistently ordered "budget" grade items from ML, and they usually come equal to commercial or select grade when compared to other providers. Worth noting.

Only time I had an issue with them was about a year ago. I ordered 15 deep boxes and 20 medium boxes, along with enough frames to fill them all. I assembled the frames before the boxes, and when I got done assembling it all I noticed instead of medium frames they sent me shallows. Really unfortunate, as the bee space would be all off if I put it into the mediums, and I had already assembled the 200 frames, so what was I going to do with them. I was kinda worried I'd now have to come out of pocket for 20 shallow boxes to put the frames in AND 200 medium frames to fill the medium boxes. Called up ML and they said no worries, keep the shallows, and sent me 200 medium frames as a replacement. No cost.  I was happy enough that I turned around and ordered some shallow boxes the next fall.

The only bad thing I can say about ML is that it doesn't tell you if the item is in stock, or if it's on back order, or if they won't ship it. I've ordered foundation before only to have it not show up. They didn't tell me it was on back order or anything. Three weeks later I had to call, and they said the temps were too cold to ship the foundation. I'd have to wait till spring. This was in February. Kinda put me in a bind, and if I knew that I probably would have driven to Dadant, Brushy Mountain, or Kelley's in person store. I had the same issue on some boxes a little while back. Not too cold, but they were on back order. Had to wait two weeks for them. Not a big deal, but would be nice to know when you are ordering it.

[specialkayme]

As far as the dry bee pro goes, here are your options:

1. Mix 1 part dry sub with 2 parts sugar. Add in enough water (or HFCS, or some use 1:1 syrup) to make it like peanut butter. Use the mixture the same as you would the "pre-made" patties.

2. Take a bottom board, put an empty deep box on it, and an cover on top of that. Inside the deep box, put a few cups of dry sub. The bees will use it as a pollen feeder. I often use a 5 frame nuc for this. Others I know have turned a 5 gallon bucket on it's side, put some chicken wire over the top (to stop critters from getting into it) and it works about the same. Important points are to keep dogs, raccoons, possums, and other critters out, while also making sure the water doesn't hit the dry stuff.

3. Mix a little bit of the sub in with some 1:1 syrup, and feed as normal. Adds some protein.

4. When making candy (or candy boards), add in a few cups when the mixture is hot enough, stir it up and pout into the pans (or boards, or whatever). Adding the sub to the candy will give them a little extra protein as they feed.