# Feed honey and pollen to new package?



## Rydalch (Mar 29, 2016)

I'm getting a new package soon and know they will need fed since there won't be much nectar and pollen yet. I would like to feed them honey and pollen (both bought from a local bee supply store) rather than sugar water and pollen patties. Is this alright?


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## rogman (May 9, 2014)

I think you'll find a lot of beekeepers are reluctant to feed honey from an unknown source to their bees -- too much opportunity for disease/contamination. While you may know the bee supply store, you may not know the status and health of the colonies that produced the honey. Bottom line- it may be a bit risky to do so.


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## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

Sugar is cheaper than honey just saying


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## Rydalch (Mar 29, 2016)

I worry about feeding them sugar water because I've read that it is not good for the bee's stomach and can lead to Nosema problems. But maybe that's better than feeding them honey? Because I can't verify that the honey is not contaminated with chemicals and spores from AFB.

Also, I thought it might be healthier for the package if I gave them real pollen bought from the local bee keeper store rather than a pollen patty. What do you think? 

(This is my first package and I want to give them what is healthiest for them and not cause problems with disease and other things)


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

Beekeepers have been feeding sugar 1:1 to new packages for years and years. That's millions of bees. It is perfectly safe to feed to your new bees. 

The first thing a new package in a new, empty hive has to do is build comb. The queen cannot begin laying eggs until they do that, which is why comb-building is so vital for a package. By the time the new hive has brood to feed, they also have bees out foraging and bringing in pollen to feed that brood. There is pollen available long before there is any nectar, hence the need for sugar starts way before the need for pollen.

JMO

Rusty


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## Rydalch (Mar 29, 2016)

Oh, so I don't need to feed them pollen? Just sugar water (1:1). By the way, thank you SO much for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. I've read so much stuff about all this that I'm pretty confused as to what is best for a new package!

Denise


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## Richard P (Feb 12, 2016)

I am a new beek, and have no where NEAR a fraction of the knowledge of these folks in here. But here is my 2 cents, and what I have been told, and been doing successfully.. New packages, swarms, cutouts etc. feed sugar 1-2 weeks max. after hiving this time of year. No pollen till fall or winter. Been told that may lazy them up for doing their natural foraging. My hive are pulling lotsa pollen home on there own here in Bama. I also put 2 caps of Honey B Healthy in each mason jar as well and make a spray bottle with the same mixture for calming them, and also spraying foundations when hiving. I may get beat up for this, but that is what I an doing. Good luck with you new package..............


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## MartinW (Feb 28, 2015)

- I would like to feed them honey and pollen (both bought from a local bee supply store) rather than sugar water and pollen patties. Is this alright? 

Last spring I fed new packages honey I purchased from a member of our bee club. Worked out fine.

-both bought from a local bee supply store

if you are concerned about the honey, can't hurt to call and ask about its source. Good luck.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

Spring bees on a flow are building comb off nectar, and not honey. This is why very light syrup (1::1) is stimulative-- same approximate composition as nectar. Nectar comes in a host of sugar complexes. In my region Avocado is 94% sucrose and 6% a seven-carbon carbohydrate. Bees build comb off that nectar just fine (which is good because Avocado honey is crummy). Eucalyptus nectar is very dilute (13% or less total solids). Bees build comb off Eucalyptus A-OK. 

There is enormous mystification over honey, and deliberate misrepresentation of sugar, Fructose corn syrup, and other feeds. I don't know why folks make up "theories" to support their prejudieces.


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## Richard Cryberg (May 24, 2013)

Rydalch said:


> I'm getting a new package soon and know they will need fed since there won't be much nectar and pollen yet. I would like to feed them honey and pollen (both bought from a local bee supply store) rather than sugar water and pollen patties. Is this alright?


The natural thing to feed bees is something that has about the chemical composition of nectar. Think about it a minute. What does a swarm go after for food? Easy. Nectar. Ok, what is a decent chemical mimic for nectar? Easy again. Plain old white sugar dissolved in an equal weight of water. No need to add any toxins or snake oil like HBH to this solution. You would not find those toxins in nectar in any significant concentration would you?

The only time you ever need to feed pollen sub is when the bees can not find pollen on their own. If they can find pollen on their own they generally either ignore the pollen sub or suck the sugar water out of it and haul the solids out the front of the hive for disposal. Buy a good pollen sub rather than trying to just feed straight pollen. In either case you will need to mix with syrup to get the patty they eat. The commercial subs have been pretty carefully formulated to provide a decent balance of amino acids. Any pollen you buy is a total unknown as to its amino acid balance and may actually be harmful to your bees if it has a poor balance.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

++100 on Richard Cryberg's post "Plain old white sugar dissolved in an equal weight of water"

One owes it to oneself to read Doug Sommerville's masterful report "Fat Bees, Skinny bees" https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/downloads/05-054

The report covers nutrition in Australia, where in the absence of Varroa issues of bee health from nutrition are in stark relief. The amino acid profile of pollen must match bees metabolic requirements, or malnutrition and colony death is predictable. Amino acid profiles are highly variable == and the Sommerville report documents nectar flows off particular species of Eucalyptus blooms that lead to problems which must be mitigated with supplemental protein. The takehome -- nutrition is species specific.

The Fat Bees, Skinny Bees report is a bracing correction to the "mystical" fairy tales common with American online "experts" -- the final section, detailed case histories of actual beekeeper practices should be emulated by these experts -- real world information provided without spin. Squarepeg does this on this site, but some of the guru's have "dog-ate-my-homework" excuses when pressed to actually document their claims.


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