Protein Feed for Bees - Pollen subs

It is a supplementary feed in paste form that provides protein and, depending on its formulation, other nutrients. It is used to address pollen shortages when natural supplies are insufficient or lack variety. The patty format alone does not tell you its composition: check the label and directions for use. It is not the same as an energy-only feed, nor does it replace the full nutritional diversity of pollen.

Place the patty over the brood nest, touching the cluster: they use it best within 5 cm of the larvae, and the further away, the less they touch it. Open the pack or peel off the paper so the bees are in direct contact with it. In two-box hives it goes between the boxes, on top of the one with brood, and if the cluster moves up, the patty goes up with it. The warmth and humidity of the cluster keep its texture; if the colony is small or the weather is cold, it dries out and is poorly used. At each visit, move whatever is left, because wax moth likes to breed underneath it. If you use a powdered feed, follow its directions: not all of them are meant to be fed dry.

What they find in the field: enough nectar and pollen, and plenty of variety. When that falls short, supplement according to what is missing: sugars if stores or nectar income are low, and protein if pollen is scarce or lacks variety. The two often go together: with no nectar flow or honey stores, the patty does little good, as the bees take out the sugar and throw the rest away; give thin syrup alongside it in small feeds, unless there is honey to spare. Choose feeds formulated for bees and look at their composition, not just the protein percentage. And never feed them honey or pollen from other hives or of unknown origin: it can spread diseases such as American foulbrood.

To address a nutritional shortfall affecting nurse bees and brood feeding. Proteins and their amino acids contribute to royal jelly production, but supplementation only makes sense when the diet needs that support. Decide whether the aim is to maintain the population or support its growth, and measure the response in frames of brood and bees, not in the patty that disappears: eating it is not the same as growing. The first feeds build up the nurse bees: more brood shows by the second or third feed; more jelly in the larvae, the next day. Supplementary feeding does not guarantee a larger honey crop or replace health inspections.

When the incoming pollen does not meet the colony’s needs, in quantity or variety: after a failed flow, during a drought, at the start of spring, in the late-summer dearth or when preparing nucs. The hive tells you: young larvae with little jelly, or eggs that disappear, call for patty; if the larvae are swimming in jelly, there is no need. If you want the colony to build up, it also needs midday temperatures above 18 °C and bees flying: on a tight cluster the patty sits untouched, and a drier maintenance feed is the better choice. Strong heat also holds things back: in a dry August the patty keeps brood going, but build-up waits for cooler weather or pollen. If plenty of varied pollen is coming in, do not add patties as a matter of routine.

Once you start, plan for 4–6 weeks in a row, about two brood cycles: that is the minimum set by Véto-pharma’s nutrition guide for the feeding to reach the next generation. The field decides how long: keep going while no pollen comes in and they keep eating it, and take it off when the flow starts or cold stops them flying. Stopping halfway leaves the brood you have already stimulated without support, and overdoing it is not a good idea either: bees do not store patty in the combs; whatever the cluster does not cover dries out and wax moth breeds in it, so remove it at each visit. To have the colony strong for a nectar flow, start about six weeks beforehand: two brood cycles.

As a guide, 100–250 g per colony per week when you want the colony to build up, topped up as it is eaten: little and often goes further than one big patty. With no pollen in the field, a strong colony gets through more than half a kilo a week: go by what it has eaten at each visit, not by the figure. To maintain the population when pollen is short, work with 1–1.5 kg a month of a complete paste low in protein, around 4–5 %. These are the figures in our Spanish-language book ¡Quiero ser apicultor! and in the handbook by Gonell, Pitarch and Gómez Pajuelo. If your patty states another dose, follow that one, and before feeding it across the apiary, trial it on about ten colonies: there is always one that will not eat.

First check where it is and what state it is in: a patty far from the cluster or dried out is poorly used, and in Layens hives it dries out sooner, because the roof is ventilated and there is no passage between the frames. Check whether pollen is coming in: with pollen in the field, it is normal for them to ignore it. Look at its protein content too, because our Iberian bee accepts patties above 10 % less readily. If one colony does not eat while its neighbours do, do not be alarmed straight away: colonies vary a great deal. If it also has little brood or a patchy laying pattern, mark it and inspect it thoroughly: queenless and sick colonies will not touch it.

Pollen is the natural protein source for bees. Ingredients used in supplements include brewer’s yeast and plant flours such as soy flour, with processing and particle size suitable for bee feed. Their composition is not interchangeable: plant origin alone does not guarantee a complete diet. What counts is the amino-acid balance, and a single flour is short of several of them: that is why serious formulas combine two or three sources, and a very fine grind with no strong smells is eaten more readily. Choose feeds formulated for bees and review their composition, other nutrients and directions for use.

Plan feeding sufficiently ahead of the honey flow. The Pajuelo and Véto-pharma nutrition guide recommends keeping supplementary feeding separate from the honey production period. There is no universal interval between stopping feeding and the crop for every feed and management system. Check the product directions and organise feeding so that supplementary feed does not enter honey intended for harvest.

Yes, in two ways. An over-concentrated patty is eaten less readily: with our Iberian bee, acceptance drops above about 10 % protein, and many richer formulas have been trialled on Italian bees. That 10 % is measured on the mixed patty, sugar and water included: the 45–50 % of a powder refers to the dry product and, mixed with syrup, comes down to a fraction of that. And whatever is not eaten spoils: moist, protein-rich patties ferment quickly above 20 °C, and the leftovers attract wax moth. Give each time what the colony will eat in a week and remove anything that goes off.