# Pollen sub mixer



## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

I have been thinking about buying a mixer for pollen sub and I see so many ways of doing it. Is there a better type of mixer that is not painfully slow ?

I have looked at mortar mixers and the majorly expensive Hobart mixers and can't seem to figure out what is best. 
I have seen Keith J nutra-bee sub mixed in tubs from a video and it looks like a great job, maybe he could comment on this ? Nice looking sub too !

Can Nutra-Bee be purchased in Canada ?


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Im pretty sure Keith doesn't mix in tubs. That would be a mess.


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## dback (Jan 8, 2012)

Imer mortar mixer


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben, my first question to you is, how much ( LBS) sub do you mix & how much a day or hour do you need to mix?

Yes, we do sell sub in Canada.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

I use our old low speed drill and a mortar mix bit. I mix my batches til I see a bit of smoke off the drill, lol
Drill still working


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Keith Jarrett said:


> Ben, my first question to you is, how much ( LBS) sub do you mix & how much a day or hour do you need to mix?
> 
> Yes, we do sell sub in Canada.


I will hopefully be running 200-300 hives next year for pollination and I give each hive around 7-8 pounds of sub early spring and going into blueberries end of May I put on 2 more lbs. I also feed all of my splits after pollination and in the late fall I give them sub as well. I believe in keeping hives well fed 

I suppose I don't really need too much all at once, I was just hoping to mix up a 300 lb batch each week, I guess it would depend on how fast they consume the patties (1lb every 3 days maybe ?). I would like to know what retailer/supplier has your sub and I will give it an honest try


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

I use a cement mixer. I can do about 80 lbs to a batch. It is really fast and easy.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Ben Little said:


> fast they consume the patties (1lb every 3 days maybe ?).


I doubt that fast. How fast did they eat your patties this last spring? Mine good hives will eat a pound in a week to 10 days. I dont have a lot of time before the natural stuff comes out.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

The package bees from NZ were grinding up a 1 lb patty every time I went to refill the frame feeders and it was around every 3-4 days, some scraps were there but mostly all gone. it would be nice to just throw on a bunch and not have to worry about lugging patties with me when we go out, just filling feeders. This was the fastest I have seen bees consume sub, I used the Bee Builder Patties from Mann Lake this spring and some hives were just nibbling them and others were acting like chipper shredders to it, I thought they were chewing it up and throwing it out but I saw minimal amounts on the bottom board of the pallet. So I have no idea if it was just more palatable for them or what.
Could be a totally different story this spring


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Ben, I bought one of these after MarkT talked about it in this thread:http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?303632-Pollen-sub-mixer
Got it off ebay.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Industrial-...286?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d1fb1a76
I mixed a few thousand lbs with it and so far it works good.I like it. Made in China,so one never knows if it will last.......the switch quit working in the first hour (so I held it on with a C clamp).The company will replace it,they seem good to work with.
I used the regular harbor freight mixers for years. They will work but not near as fast and they are a bit tricky to use.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Ben Little said:


> The package bees from NZ were grinding up a 1 lb patty every time I went to refill the frame feeders and it was around every 3-4 days,


no wonder you had trouble with swarms this year


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Ian said:


> no wonder you had trouble with swarms this year


Yeah they were really full of bees and brood right after blueberry pollination. They were hanging off the boxes in globs and I did my best with the time I had. It will be different this coming year for sure.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

loggermike said:


> Ben, I bought one of these after MarkT talked about it in this thread:http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?303632-Pollen-sub-mixer
> Got it off ebay.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Industrial-...286?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d1fb1a76
> I mixed a few thousand lbs with it and so far it works good.I like it. Made in China,so one never knows if it will last.......the switch quit working in the first hour (so I held it on with a C clamp).The company will replace it,they seem good to work with.
> I used the regular harbor freight mixers for years. They will work but not near as fast and they are a bit tricky to use.


I am looking at different options and everything seems to be so darn expensive just to try it out and then realize it won't work properly. I was also thinking of making something that would hook up to my 3 point hitch on my farm tractor. There must be something that could be made to mix sub, do they make mixers that use a PTO ?


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben, you ever get down to Cali ?


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Well google helped me out yet again LOL they do make cement mixers for 3 point hitches  Hmmmm

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/Concrete/3-Point-Hitch-Cement-Mixer/8214231.p


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Keith Jarrett said:


> Ben, you ever get down to Cali ?


Never been to the USA


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben Little said:


> Never been to the USA


Well Ben, if you do, I will give you a nice spiral mixer.  Like I said in the PM to you I will post the make & model of my ole one.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Thanks Keith.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Ben, you really need something where the mixing paddles turn, not the drum.I used 2 of these for years http://www.harborfreight.com/http-w...lf-cubic-ft-cement-mixer-67536-html-4744.html
and was happy to retire them back to mixing concrete.The new mixer is a world better. Maybe I should have just bought an Imer,(for twice the money) but will see if this one lasts.

>>Never been to the USA <<
Well then load up your pickup and take your gal on a vacation. See the USA(and pick up that mixer from Keith!)


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

loggermike said:


> >>Never been to the USA <<
> Well then load up your pickup and take your gal on a vacation. See the USA(and pick up that mixer from Keith!)


Ben, look out, its a trap! They are going to put you to work!! lol


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Ben, you could always rent a mixer for a day. or Why not have Keith ship you a pallet. ltl isnt bad...


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Yeah Ben, have Keith ship you a pallet of sub to try. Bee conservative on the sub when there are
natural resource coming in. Consider pollen trap if possible too. Be prepare to have lots of hive boxes available to make splits before
they can throw off a swarm. Better bee management is the key to this season's success. 300 should be there by no time. Have fun!


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

>>Ben, you could always rent a mixer for a day. or Why not have Keith ship you a pallet. ltl isnt bad... <<

Good options, but trucking might be a killer. Always hear good reports about his sub.
I see 2nd hand mixers on craigslist from time to time. Might find a deal there.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

I can't afford a truckload of sub  Maybe someday LOL

I will find something before next spring gets here. 

I wouldn't mind going to work for Keith for the winter, I would love to see the end result in the Almond fields too, I can only imagine how awesome that many hives must sound like working the blossoms


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## Allen Martens (Jan 13, 2007)

Ben if you are using premade mix like BeePro and syrup, a wheel barrow and shovel works well. Mix it to the consistency you like and scoop it out with small garden shovels. Just make sure you dip the garden shovels into water each time before you scoop the sub so it come off nicely.

Quick and cheap.


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

I will second the wheel barrow and shovel idea! It works well, but I thought it was too simple to suggest. Mixers are great too, but then you have keep them running to pay for themselves.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Yep, its all in how much you need to mix up. There was a time when we mixed 'sub in a tub' with a stick.Its easy enough to figure how many hives times how many lbs needed. Then the time factor will dictate what is needed as far as mixing.
It wasn't too long ago we were mixing our own syrup from bags from Costco. But the drought changed all that. Now we have it delivered by the tanker load.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

JSL said:


> I will second the wheel barrow and shovel idea!




One thing is certain, this makes for a good upper body work out


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

I get a kick out of the photobucket when I click on a picture it asks on the bottom of the screen if I want to order prints on canvas or holiday cards LOL

Anyways, I think I might have an idea for mixing and when it is complete I will post pictures 

Ian , what is the 2 jugs beside your sugar ? I see canola oil but can't make out the other 2 secret ingredients


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Prohealth is next to canola oil.


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## DPBsbees (Apr 14, 2011)

And the other one is Honey-B-Healthy.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Pro Health and Amino-B Booster, snake oil?


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

HHmmmm............ lol


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

Ian,

If you really want a "liquid" protein, a dozen eggs will cost you about $2 or $5 if you want the free range organic, which is quite a deal at about 10-12% protein. If you turn the mixer way up they make a really fluffy patty.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

JSL said:


> Ian,
> 
> If you really want a "liquid" protein,


Ya you know how these things are sold. Bought two jugs a few years back, quit using it in my feed, only made a mess. So I used it up in my patty mix this spring to get it out of my pantry. I know better than of told you Cali beekeepers about my snake oil purchase, LOL :lookout:


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

So I never mixed my own pollen sub before, what is the better way to do it? Using BeePro for instance. 
I have seen some beekeepers adding all kinds of extra things to sub to make it "better" and wondering if it is all really necessary .


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben Little said:


> I have seen some beekeepers adding all kinds of extra things to sub to make it "better" and wondering if it is all really necessary .


Ben, what do you think your avg number of bee frame count is today?


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Going into winter? If I had to guess at what I saw for the past few weeks of removing Apivar I would say the clusters are covering the majority of 7 frames on bottom and half of the same amount of frames of the top box, both deeps.

Some hives were harder to judge because they were scattering when I cracked them. I liked what I saw on most of them, some were not up to par but I am not combining this late.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ben Little said:


> Going into winter? I liked what I saw on most of them,.


Ben, I would keep doing what works. good luck


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