Promobee 5L

01 · WHAT IS IN IT

Brewer's yeast, carob and five vitamins

The base is three plant raw materials: non-GM corn steep liquor, carob flour and hydrolysed brewer's yeast protein — hydrolysed meaning already broken down, so the bee spends no enzymes splitting it. On top of that come vitamins E, A, B3, B2 and B1, calcium and prebiotics.

The formula is completed by essential oils, which give it that distinctive smell and help the bees take it, and lactic acid. It is of plant origin and made in Spain.

02 · HOW TO USE IT

Five to ten millilitres per litre of syrup

Mix 5-10 ml per litre of syrup, glucose/fructose or sugar, stirring until evenly spread. It can also go into the mix when making up home-made protein patties. It needs no resting time: feed it as soon as it is stirred in.

The moments when it makes sense are those of brood build-up: the spring start, nuclei recovering and the gap between flows. Over winter, with the colony not rearing brood, it contributes little.

03 · WHAT IT IS NOT

It does not replace pollen or a protein patty

It helps to be clear about the scale. At 5-10 ml per litre, what goes into the hive is a contribution of vitamins, amino acids and prebiotics, not a protein ration. If the colony has a real protein deficit — a spring with no pollen in the field, nuclei starting up, recovery after the harvest — what it needs is pollen or a protein patty; this goes alongside that, it does not replace it.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Between the two sizes it comes down to how much you use: the 1-litre bottle covers 100-200 litres of syrup and the 5-litre container 500-1,000. Work out what you will feed over the season and choose from there. And the usual rule: do not feed during the flow if you intend to harvest that honey for sale.