The Honey Factory

[5Australorpasaures]

Shipping cost for dry pollen is outrageous. I get the patties from a Mann Lake dealer but doesn't carry the 10 LB pail of the dry pollen. I have made patties using the Micheal Palmer recipe. I was never a fan of straight dry pollen or sugar feeding.

 

[Apis mellifera]

Which do you use?

For many years I used a homemade vaporizer that I brazed together, it worked fine. But then someone posted a $100 off code on beesource for the instantvap and I went for it since I have cordless Milwaukee tools. It really works great.

 

[Apis mellifera]

Shipping cost for dry pollen is outrageous. I get the patties from a Mann Lake dealer but doesn't carry the 10 LB pail of the dry pollen. I have made patties using the Micheal Palmer recipe. I was never a fan of straight dry pollen or sugar feeding.

Ive tried feeding subs and supplements but I never see a difference between them and the colonies I feed plain fondant to. Sugar seems to have a much bigger impact on the amount of brood in the spring for my area. If I did feed I would definitely go with Global Patties.
https://scientificbeekeeping.com/7457-2/

I had similar results as U of F, just not a big difference. The results weren't worth the cost.
https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/entnemde...len-substitute-patties-in-a-honey-bee-colony/

 

[Egghead_Jr]

There is simply no part of the season there is a pollen shortage here also. I still use pollen sub for the cell starters though. Rub it into an open frame of comb as those lack foragers to go get it. Probably will make up a pollen trap in the near future to supply that purpose.

 

[Apis mellifera]

There is simply no part of the season there is a pollen shortage here also.

We are fortunate in the NE. I just raise queens now in strong overwintered nucs, by swarm season they're ready I and dont need to feed. But I dont raise a lot queens, maybe 20.

 

[Sally PB]

Probably will make up a pollen trap in the near future to supply that purpose.

I'd never heard of pollen trapping, so I just looked it up. Roughly $90 for the one I found that fit an 8 frame hive.

Will you use the pollen just for feeding the bees later, or do you have other uses for it? Does it save enough money to make it worth while?

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Here in the Pine Barrens we get Maple pollen first and depending on weather might be early or late. I start them on the pollen patties and a 1 to 1 syrup, temps permitting, just until I see them bring in pollen on their own, to give them a jumpstart on brood for the upcoming Blue Berry nectar flow, which in turn gives me good populations for splits. We all work through our given environments and find a niche that gives us our desired results Then MOM NATURE throws us the proverbial curve ball.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

@Apis mellifera I've learned smaller number of grafts in a 5 frame cell builder is the way to go. More cycles of queens is much easier to deal with. I've tried large batches of queens and it's devastating if you are late getting to the yard to find virgins hatched, or you get a great take and are compelled to start tearing down production hives for brood and bees to make up the colonies. Which usually ends badly as bees drift out and brood chills. I've made a lot of errors to get to a manageable system. I'm only looking for 60-ish new starts this year then some rounds of queens to replace older stock that are not breeders.

@Sally PB I have some dry pollen sub left in the freezer purchased two years ago but will need more and as I don't feed it to the bees in the spring anymore it's only for queen rearing. This will be my first year collecting it. Will only need a few single day collections for queen rearing. I'm finding the hardest part of making a pollen trap is obtaining the correct woven wire sizes. 7 mesh is hard to find. Probably will go with 6 mesh for the pollen to fall through. 5 mesh is for the entrance of hive to rub the pollen off legs, falls through the 7 mesh (bees can't get through that and pollen won't fall through 8 mesh). Like I said, will likely go with the 6 mesh as it's easier to find, workers have to struggle to get through it.

 

[Apis mellifera]

@Apis mellifera I've learned smaller number of grafts in a 5 frame cell builder is the way to go. More cycles of queens is much easier to deal with. I've tried large batches of queens and it's devastating if you are late getting to the yard to find virgins hatched, or you get a great take and are compelled to start tearing down

I got to a cell builder a few hours late and when I popped the lid the v queens scattered! I managed to catch a couple and put them in minis. Ive blown it plenty of times to find holes drilled in the side of the cells too. Now I hair roller cage them after they are capped. I put a couple drops of honey in the bottom of cage.

@Sally PB, Its good to have dedicated hives just for pollen collection. It takes its toll on the bees brood production. Pollen needs to be collected and froze at least once a day. I had the bottom Sundance traps, there wasn't any benefit for me other than I can say I tried it.

 

[Sally PB]

@Egghead_Jr, I'd be very interested in what you build, and the process of trapping, if you document it.

Cool! I'm learning something new today. Thank you.