Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: latebee on July 13, 2004, 11:11:44 pm
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hello,
I was wondering if i could collect corn pollen to feed my bees for a spring buildup?
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The best way to store pollen to feed back to the bees is to freeze it.
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hello,
I was wondering if i could collect corn pollen to feed my bees for a spring buildup?
latewood23@hotmail.com
I have not collected my own pollen, but I use Estonian pollen very much. This summer I have bought 40 kilos just for spring buildup. In Estonia earnings level is 1/7 compared to Finland. And my own pollen will stay in hives.
From internet I learned that I can use soya flour and yeast with pollen. If you put over 20% pollen to mixture, it is palatable for bees.
I make dough with dough machine.
3 kg dry pollen
0,7 litre water to soften pollen ower night
3 kg yeast
2 kg soya flour
1 kg heated honey (liguid)
1 kg flour sugar
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10,7 total
28% pollen
If dough is too wet, add soya flour and balance the mixture with it.
Then I roll the paste between two dough paper to 5-8 mm plate and give it to the top bars of frame. During one week 2 super colony can eat 0,5-1 kg that dough. New born bees eat it very eargerly.
Near 20% pollen all colonies are not willing to eat dough.
Dough will be in condition at least 3 weeks in cold. The flour sugar add the content of sugar and stops yeast fermentation.
All thet stuff will transform to bees :wink:
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Here is an interesting article on using vitamin-C as an attractant for pollen substitute.
http://wind.prohosting.com/tbhguy/bee/subs.htm
I haven't tried it yet, but have bought the vitamin-C to try this year.
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Here is an interesting article on using vitamin-C as an attractant for pollen substitute.
Yes, I read about vitamins from bee nutrition article. I crushed human multivitamin pill and mixced in the pollen cake. One pill/5 kg pollen.
A little bid afraid, how many "bee bodies" I will see in front of hive. Not at all!
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I appreciate your knowledge on the 20/28% "real" pollen.
I must say, my success at pollen substitute has been very marginal to this point. Perhaps this is why.
I will keep better track of the percent of pollen next time.
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For those of us in the US wanting to try Finman's recipe, I have "Americanized" it in Blue
These are approximate values to ease the measurments, but should be close enough.
Finman, thanks for sharing your recipe.
3 kg dry pollen (6.5 lbs)
0,7 litre water to soften pollen ower night (3 cups)
3 kg yeast (6.5 lbs)
2 kg soya flour (4.5 lbs soy flour)
1 kg heated honey (liguid) (2.25 lbs)
1 kg flour sugar (2.25 lbs powdered sugar)
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10,7 total
28% pollen
If dough is too wet, add soya flour and balance the mixture with it.
Then I roll the paste between two dough paper (wax paper) to 5-8 mm plate (1/4" thick) and give it to the top bars of frame. During one week 2 super colony can eat 0,5-1 kg (~1 to 2 lbs) that dough. New born bees eat it very eargerly.