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How to Feed Pollen to Bees

We all know bees eat honey. But honey provides only the carbohydrate portion of a bee's diet. The protein portion comes from the pollen produced by various plants. Pollen is essential for drone and brood rearing and is particularly important for colony buildup in preparation for honey flows and pollination work, or if hive splits are planned. One of the easiest ways to provide pollen to your colonies is to make pollen patties.

Things You'll Need

4 cups table sugar
2 cups water
1 cup pollen
7 cups pollen substitute
1-gallon bucket
Kitchen mixer

Instructions

Feeding with Pollen Patties
- 1
  Prepare a sugar syrup. Mix 4 cups of table sugar with 2 cups water over low heat until dissolved. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- 2
  Fill a one-gallon bucket with 1 cup of pollen and 7 cups of pollen substitute, which is available from beekeeping catalogs or online. Slowly add the sugar syrup to the bucket, mixing as you go. Continue to mix and add more syrup until the mixture reaches the consistency of a soft dough.
- 3
  Scoop about one pound of the mixture out of the bucket and place it in a large zip-top plastic bag. Flatten the dough in the bag to form a round patty and seal the bag. Repeat until all of the mixture is bagged.
- 4
  To feed bees, open the hive and smoke the bees down into it. Cut a V-shaped slit in the face of the plastic bag and fold the triangular flap back. Place a patty with the opening facing down on the top bars of the frames in the hive box.

Insects & Science