I tried pollen patties a few times and the bees wanted nothing to do with it; however, the hives beetles did want it, so now I just feed dry pollen sub in the spring. This spring though I might try this recipe with the honey addition. One thing I'll do different though is add the dry ingredients firstly then slowly add the water.
timing is important, they won't take it if natural pollen is out there. I add sugar and honey to help it be better 😋 And I trap natural pollen and add that. I use mints to stave off SHB but they really take advantage so feed smaller patties so they can be consumed faster.
Mrs Susan, if I may offer a nickel's worth of advice on the dollar stage here! Down in the lower where you are there should be a Harbor Freight store nearby. They have a router speed controller that is basically a short extension cord with a speed control box made into it. I bought one years ago and it was less than $10 back then. You can hook it up to your drill and dial in the speed needed to mix with the trigger fully depressed on the drill. It is awesome for mixing because you won't have those oh crap moments flinging stuff everywhere. Have a great day from a misplaced Cajun up in Alaska. :)
Do you think thyme oil and spearmint oil works for treating the bees? I noticed your essential oils didn't include these two. I'm not saying it should. Just that I'm still figuring out what works myself. I'm curious also if you think queens from the south can potentially have less disease since they don't have as much winter stress? Sorry to have loaded so many questions on you. I do enjoy thinking about bees and doing real things. And you are also very nice.
😍 My mint is peppermint and spearmint would do well. I think thyme is good, it is a lighter essential than some industry uses. I play around ( I have used tea tree, lavender, and rosemary etc,)because diversity is essential to bee health. Queens no matter their origin will be stressed if not fed well, good forage, healthy and low chemical environments, winter should help with certain pests that here in the south never seem to let up😬.
This is a really useful topic. It was something i'd been thinking about a lot this year. One of the worries I have is how much commercial food industry for humans is cheating on ingredients in food. Especially processed food. And if they are doing that for humans, then you wonder how much pre-made pollen patties by others are being changed with fake ingredients. So it seems like it is safest and best to make stuff at home like you are doing. I am not of course against other companies, but just the food culture in the US uses so much garbage. And its in the mentality. So I guess... it means its hard to know when you go buy stuff if its even real. And I like the idea of something made at home where you can actually know what's in it. When you guy real pollen from people, I still have no idea how much of that is really soy meal etc? I mean ... its too expensive to make it 100% real pollen. So I'm not expecting it to be that high. And its fair that you have to run a business. But I'm not sure what the breakdown when you buy pollen sub from a company is.... what % of that is soy meal vs real pollen and stuff? And how much real the % breakdown has to be, and what that line is for the bees to be OK?
I tried pollen patties a few times and the bees wanted nothing to do with it; however, the hives beetles did want it, so now I just feed dry pollen sub in the spring. This spring though I might try this recipe with the honey addition. One thing I'll do different though is add the dry ingredients firstly then slowly add the water.
timing is important, they won't take it if natural pollen is out there. I add sugar and honey to help it be better 😋 And I trap natural pollen and add that. I use mints to stave off SHB but they really take advantage so feed smaller patties so they can be consumed faster.
Susan, youtube just put up a video that you made 8 years ago. I sure liked it and the music on it was great. Thanks for doing this!
😳 I do not know why but I think that's a good thing 😀Thanks for the notice and KIND WORDS Laura✌💐
Mrs Susan, if I may offer a nickel's worth of advice on the dollar stage here! Down in the lower where you are there should be a Harbor Freight store nearby. They have a router speed controller that is basically a short extension cord with a speed control box made into it. I bought one years ago and it was less than $10 back then. You can hook it up to your drill and dial in the speed needed to mix with the trigger fully depressed on the drill. It is awesome for mixing because you won't have those oh crap moments flinging stuff everywhere. Have a great day from a misplaced Cajun up in Alaska. :)
🤣🤣🤣🙃🫣😁 love it! thanks so much! ya'll stay warm up thar! ✨️✌️🐝🫰
You should put your old honey bottles in warm water to soften up to make your patties...
You are right!😁
Hello,can i use chickpea flour as a pollen substitute ? Thanks yur knowledge sharing.
From what I have read yes! They may add powdered milk and brewers yeast, if available, as well for a mix.
Do you think thyme oil and spearmint oil works for treating the bees? I noticed your essential oils didn't include these two. I'm not saying it should. Just that I'm still figuring out what works myself.
I'm curious also if you think queens from the south can potentially have less disease since they don't have as much winter stress?
Sorry to have loaded so many questions on you. I do enjoy thinking about bees and doing real things. And you are also very nice.
😍 My mint is peppermint and spearmint would do well. I think thyme is good, it is a lighter essential than some industry uses. I play around ( I have used tea tree, lavender, and rosemary etc,)because diversity is essential to bee health. Queens no matter their origin will be stressed if not fed well, good forage, healthy and low chemical environments, winter should help with certain pests that here in the south never seem to let up😬.
what are the substitute name ingredients please tell us?
It is Ultra Bee from Mann Lake
This is a really useful topic. It was something i'd been thinking about a lot this year.
One of the worries I have is how much commercial food industry for humans is cheating on ingredients in food. Especially processed food. And if they are doing that for humans, then you wonder how much pre-made pollen patties by others are being changed with fake ingredients.
So it seems like it is safest and best to make stuff at home like you are doing. I am not of course against other companies, but just the food culture in the US uses so much garbage. And its in the mentality.
So I guess... it means its hard to know when you go buy stuff if its even real. And I like the idea of something made at home where you can actually know what's in it.
When you guy real pollen from people, I still have no idea how much of that is really soy meal etc? I mean ... its too expensive to make it 100% real pollen. So I'm not expecting it to be that high. And its fair that you have to run a business. But I'm not sure what the breakdown when you buy pollen sub from a company is.... what % of that is soy meal vs real pollen and stuff? And how much real the % breakdown has to be, and what that line is for the bees to be OK?
Sub has no real pollen. Old timers used flours and grains, this stuff has more proteins and such.