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Make It Yourself Pollen Cakes for Bees

Bees are naturally drawn to pollen because it's an excellent protein source that aids in the rearing of both drones and queen bees. Without this protein source the hives would eventually die out. Luckily, bees are amazing survivalists and stock up on pollen in the warm, dry months so the hive can survive the cold seasons. Beekeepers, however, do not want their bees to merely survive; they want their hives to be healthy so they can produce drones and queens all year long, even when the weather turns cold and snowy. One way beekeepers can keep their hive healthy is to feed them pollen cakes that include the nutrients they need.

Things You'll Need

8 cups brewer's yeast
7 cups sugar
3 cups water
2 cups pollen
Medium bowl
2 large bowls
Mixing spoon
Heavy duty kitchen mixer
Wax Paper

Instructions

- 1
  Combine 2 cups of pollen with 1 cup of water in a medium sized bowl and mix the two ingredients together with a spoon.
- 2
  Allow the mixture to sit until the pollen powder is completely dissolved into the water.
- 3
  Combine the remaining 2 cups of water with 7 cups of sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix these two ingredients together until the resulting product is thick and syrupy.
- 4
  Pour both the sugar syrup solution and pollen solution into a large bowl with 8 cups of brewer's yeast.
- 5
  Mix the ingredients together very well with a heavy duty kitchen mixer until it forms a dough-like paste.
- 6
  Scoop the pollen paste out of the bowl and lay it on a large piece of wax paper.
- 7
  Flatten the pollen paste down onto the wax paper so that it forms a cake.
- 8
  Cover the pollen cake with a second sheet of wax paper.
- 9
  Store the pollen cake in the refrigerator or immediately give it to the bees.

Insects & Science