March: Feeding Pollen Patties

Pollen Patties

March 8, 2015

March in Minnesota can be challenging for the bees as well as for the backyard beekeeper. It is a month of transition, winter will be officially over in 12 days! And March 20 will be the start of spring. However, we can still have a last snap of cold temperatures, and some healthy amount of snow.

Honeybees like birds, squirrels and other animals are instinctively aware of the warmer days ahead. Therefore they have already started the process of increasing the size of their colony. The nurse bees have to prepare the cells in order for the Queen to start laying her eggs. The trigger is the consumption of pollen by the nurse bees. They will take the pollen, or pollen patty which they will mix with enzymes, a bit of honey and good gut bacteria and make what is called : bee bread (fermented pollen). This rich protein diet allows them to secrete royal jelly that is fed to very young larvae. When the larvae are 3 days old, they will be fed bee bread and honey! To be clear: eggs don't eat pollen, pupae don't eat pollen, and adult bees don't eat pollen; only very young larvae eat it. This is why natural pollen, or pollen patties are so important. It increases the brood production.

 

I usually feed pollen patties 8-9 weeks before the first nectar flow (around May 10) depending on the weather and store availability in the hive.

Once I start giving them pollen, I cannot stop until there is natural pollen for them to forage. Therefore, I will be checking my colonies about every 10 days to see if I need to add some pollen.

The patty has to be  placed right where the cluster of bees is located in the hive. Right now my bees are all in the top box, and the patty is on the top of the frames under the inner cover and moisture board.

If your bees are somewhere else in the hive, put your patty where your bees are located. This is very important because if there is a cold day/night the bees will cluster, and will cover the brood to protect it from freezing. If the food is too far away, they will not be able to access it.

Pollen patties not only promote strong, healthy bees , and bee development; it builds up the bee population as a whole so in late May I will be able to divide my strongest colonies.

One more thing!

A pollen patty is about one pound.

A colony may need up to 4 patties before natural pollen is available

Purchased pollen substitute patties have no pollen in them

Purchased pollen supplement patties have pollen

Feeding sugar syrup 1:1 will come a little later...Early April!

In my next post, I will give a couple of recipes to make your own pollen patties at home.