LocustHoney. OK, I feel like I have to jump in on this thread. The bees throughout the winter will raise little patches of brood, as those brood hatch and are able to tend the larvae, the hive grows, bit by bit. This is my take on what happens. If you feed pollen patty, they will only use it if they do not have enough pollen stores of their own. Their preference is for the natural pollen that they collect. There, in my opinion, is absolutely no harm to feed pollen patty, if they need it they will use it, plain and simply. There have been some pretty interesting comments made here in this thread, it was a good read. Have a great, wonderful day. Cindi