Ultra Bee Dry 40lb

01 · WHAT THE 50 % MEANS

It is the pure ingredient, not the finished patty

This figure is not to be compared with that of a ready-made patty. The 50 % is the protein of the powder, of the ingredient before mixing; a patty formulated from it lands around 15 %, because it also carries syrup and sugar. Both figures are correct and measure different things — flour and bread. If you want to open and lay, look for the patty; if you want to formulate yourself and control the ratio, this sack is it.

02 · THE SACK ARITHMETIC

3.3 kg of patty for every kilo of powder

The maker's formula is 6.8 kg of powder + 6.5 L of glucose/fructose syrup + 5.4 kg of sugar, giving about 22.7 kg of patty. That is 3.3 kg of patty per kilo of powder: the 22.68 kg sack yields some 75 kg of patty, around 166 portions of 454 g. Fed dry at the 680 g per colony the maker recommends, the same sack covers 33 colonies. Those two numbers are what actually decide which format pays.

03 · DRY OR AS A PATTY

Dry only when they can fly; patty if you want brood

As a powder it goes in an outdoor feeder sheltered from rain and wind, and it only makes sense at foraging temperatures: the bee has to go out for it. As a patty it goes straight onto the central frames, with no crown board in between, between two sheets of baking paper with four or five cuts and the holes facing down. There the nurse bees reach it without leaving the hive, which is why that is the route that moves brood. Portions of 454 g to 1.4 kg depending on colony size.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The bucket is 18 kg of the same powder in a rigid, properly closing container — which on a hygroscopic product is half the battle against the sack, where once opened you have to decant. On the maker's formula it gives about 60 kg of patty, and fed dry at 680 g per colony it covers 26 colonies.