# How to feed dry pollen?



## CathyC

How do you feed dry pollen?

I have seen advice that you (1) soak it, or (2) grind it to a powder, or (3) free feed it out in the open, or (4) put it in a patty using honey, or (5) put it in a patty but never use honey.... So am unsure what to do.

Why:
I have a tiny late started swarm from a varroa biting queen.
I waited to see if I should merge her back in but the daughter is laying well so now I want to keep both of them going.
I want to save this colony but it is small and it is October.

Resources: 
I have honey and I bought dry refrigerated pollen I can give them.
I stole 2 frames of honey from another hive for them when they swarmed.
I have a top feeder I can put on her hive.


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## billabell

I really think you should call some of your local longtime successful beekeepers for advice. I know nothing about your weather. I open feed pollen sub dry- Ultra Bee- and it works out well. I think if you start using honey you risk robbing. That is my take from Lexington VA. You might try this lady https://honeybeesuite.com/ she is at least in Washington and she really knows honey bees. Good luck.


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## CathyC

Thank you for the suggestion. I looked at her blog. She is also asking others how they feed pollen. 
She says most people pulverize it or mash it into a moist cake. She says the nuggets will be eaten and not stored.


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## beepro

Yes, it is true that the pollen granules will be eaten. They cannot stored the dry
pollen because it will get moldy with high winter moisture inside. Some will say only use
honey and pollen from the same hive or hives in your apiary that does not carry any bee
diseases. One way is to use filtered boiled then cool water mixed in with the pollen powder. Granules pollen
will be too hard and will take too much time to soften them with water. Make a paste with water because the pollen is already sweeten. Feed them just like feeding the patty subs. I wrap mine in food plastic film.


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## CathyC

Ok that is two votes for moist cake.

So tonight I am making it up with 3 options and I will feed to see what disappears fastest: Softened paste, pulverized powder, granules.

I thought you could feed them dry in winter. I didn't realize it would get moldy. Why won't the moist cake mold?

I agree. But ... Since the hive is only a few weeks old, I don't have the option of giving them their own pollen and honey.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Welcome Cathy!


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## beepro

The large bee operation used irridated pollen coming from other
country say China for example. Both the pollen and honey not from
your hives it is better that you don't use it. Because you don't know
what bee diseases these feed will carry. Also that this is a new hive.
Your best bet is to feed them patty subs (commercial) and syrup. Give them just enough syrup for an over night feeding around sunset time. This will avoid any robbing. You still need to put a robber screen on just for their safety. I feed my small nucs a half-pint syrup over night. Give them more to fill up the comb over time but not back filling the brood nest because you still want some cells space for the queen to lay in for the big fat winter bees.

If you have other strong hives then robbing a pollen and honey frame for this
hive will not hurt either. If not then make Lauri's sugar bricks for them to
overwinter this season. Sugar bricks are for emergency feeding I'm sure the bees can survive on.

Any pollen if not eaten in time will get moldy over time. For the 
patty subs I stabilized it (preservative) with ascorbic acid powder. This will
not have any mold over time. For your pollen cake, if the bees don't take it
then it will get moldy. If you don't mind then give them a small test batch to see how much they consume it before it become moldy. Makes sense to use your hive resource wisely. In this case, I would make one batch with water and another batch with syrup added. Compare the 2 to see which batch the bees prefer. A 2" by 2" cake will do rather than a big batch that the bees cannot finish and it gets spoiled.


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## CathyC

Thank you beepro
"give them a small test batch to see how much they consume it before it become moldy"

So I gave them 4 options. 1. dry pollen, 2. pulverized dry pollen, 3. pollen patty made with honey, 4. pollen patty with sugar.

They didn't touch any of them! So I will give it another couple of days. In a couple of days it is supposed to start raining so perhaps then I can see if they will take it.

The honey is from my hives. The bee pollen is from an organic producer in Oregon. See here: https://glorybee.com/hive-supplements/bee-pollen/wildflower-bee-pollen-granules


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## beepro

If the queens have stop laying and they have no larvae to feed then they will
not use the pollen subs or any subs you give them. Subs are for keeping the big fat
winter bees fat not necessarily to maintain their diet. Young nurse bees will use more subs than
the older bees. So no larvae no subs use. Try to give it to them again during early Spring time when
they are expanding their brood nest again. For me it is only a little bee experiment because the queens are
still laying now.


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## CathyC

Thank you BeePro
She is still laying. Today they were after honey and the powdered pollen but only a few bees were collecting it. They didn't touch anything else. Most of the bees were flying once we hit 60 degrees.
And the hives all seem to be collecting a bright yellow pollen now. This may be why they don't want the pollen. So I will stop trying to feed them now.


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## beepro

Yep, as long as there is still a flow they will prefer the real stuffs out there.
I will keep mine until the mini-Autumn flow is over.


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## Michael Bush

I put the dry pollen in an empty hive and open feed it. I put a solid bottom, with a screened bottom on top of that with a window screen on top of the #8 on the screened bottom. An empty box and a cover. The bees fly in, roll in the pellets and get it stuck to their hair same as when they are getting pollen from flowers. Then they make pellets and take them back to the hive. I don't grind it or process it otherwise. I do try to "freeze dry" it in the freezer so it will keep better when I feed it. Just freeze it in an open container.


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## CathyC

Thank you Michael!
So just to be clear the stack looks like this

Cover
Empty box with entrance
Window Screen
Screened bottom board
Solid bottom

Could I ask why there are 2 layers of screen?

Cathy


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## Michael Bush

One could staple the window screen on the top (with a 3/4" gap) of the bottom board and it would be sufficient, but I have screened bottom boards around as well as solid bottoms. It saves me stapling screen on a bottom board which I may later have to remove. That's just what I do because of what I have. The important thing is to get the pollen off the bottom so there is air on the bottom or it will spoil. The #8 lets too much pollen fall through, hence the window screen. I've done it without the window screen. It works, but more falls through. The bees fly under the screen and get that too, but if it accumulates too much on the solid bottom it spoils.


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## CathyC

Thank you Michael!
I will use this for the tiny hive when they stop bringing in pollen.


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## beepro

Michael Bush said:


> ....The #8 lets too much pollen fall through, hence the window screen. I've done it without the window screen. It works, but more falls through...



I thought #8 is the window screen I'm using. So the window screen for flies and mosquitoes is not the #8 wire screen? Unless
they have a different screen, I think they are the same type of screen.


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## Slow Drone

beepro said:


> I thought #8 is the window screen I'm using. So the window screen for flies and mosquitoes is not the #8 wire screen? Unless
> they have a different screen, I think they are the same type of screen.


#8 is hardware cloth 8 squares per inch in other words 1/8 inch squares window screen is much smaller just so you know.


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## CathyC

Thank you everyone for explaining how to do this to me!!! We have just had an early snow and I'm sure the little hive will appreciate it!


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