Food Supplement and substitute recipes

[Yarra_Valley]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested to know what pollen/protein cake recipes any of you guys have used, and how succesful they have been.   I don't have any spare pollen at the moment, and don't want to risk contaminating my hive with purhased pollen. Therefore, I'm particularly interested in recipes that the bees accept without pollen.

I would also like to know if anyone has used more than one type of sugar in their sugar syrup, ie. glucose/sucrose/fructose, to try and achieve a broader range of carbohydrates, more similar to those provided in nectar/honey.

Thanks eveyone.

[Robo]

I have yet to see any recipe that does not have a fair amount of pollen (25-30%) be readily accepted by bees.

Your best bet would be to buy commercial pollen cakes or patties.   Most of these use irradiated pollen to eliminate the transfer of diseases.

[Michael Bush]

Mine is simple.  Pollen or pollen dust fed dry in an empty hive so it won't get rained on.  If I don't have enough then I mix it half and half with whole soy bean flour.