I have a big bag of natural pollen in the refrigerator that was supposed to be

for a friend's allergies.



He's now not going to use it, and I was wondering if it could be fed to the bees

(safely).  It has a hive-like smell and crumbles into moist meal when you roll

it between fingertips. It's in pellets like it was stripped off bees in a pollen

trap maybe?



Is pollen good for anything other than bee food? Seems a shame to leave it

sitting, will it eventually spoil?



If it can be fed, how do you do it?



On another note, I went in today and removed the empty queen cage. I put on my

nice new bee-proof suit but it was more bother than it was worth. The bees

didn't seem to notice me at all. I have pollen coming in and lots of activity.

there's a new comb and some new white wax on areas of the old combs. No eggs

that i could see from the windows yet, but there could be some closer to the

center where I can't see.



David, they have not shredded or dismantled the old comb, they are cleaning out

the remaining few dead bees stuck in the cells and have polished everything.

They've built out some areas with new wax too. This their 6th complete day in

the hive.



Chris in NY

Hi Chris-



> He's now not going to use it, and I was wondering if it could be fed

to the bees (safely). It has a hive-like smell and crumbles >into moist

meal when you roll it between fingertips. It's in pellets like it was

stripped off bees in a pollen trap maybe?



I wouldn't feed it to the bees unless you are sure it came from

disease-free hives. And how can you be sure of that?

It would have been gathered using a pollen trap.



> Is pollen good for anything other than bee food? Seems a shame to

leave it sitting, will it eventually spoil?



It is excellent human food, rich in protein, B vitamins, and minerals.

Use it sparingly at first to see if you react to it. Pollen will mold

rather quickly unless dried or frozen. Most pollen sold in health food

stores has been dried. But if your pollen is soft enough to smash

between your fingers it probably still has a high enough moisture to

spoil if left in the fridge very long.



Regards

John M.



--- In warrebeekeeping@..., "pointydog" <pointydog@...>

wrote:

>

> I have a big bag of natural pollen in the refrigerator that was

supposed to be for a friend's allergies.

>

> He's now not going to use it, and I was wondering if it could be fed

to the bees (safely).  It has a hive-like smell and crumbles into moist

meal when you roll it between fingertips. It's in pellets like it was

stripped off bees in a pollen trap maybe?

>

> Is pollen good for anything other than bee food? Seems a shame to

leave it sitting, will it eventually spoil?

>

> If it can be fed, how do you do it?

>

> On another note, I went in today and removed the empty queen cage. I

put on my nice new bee-proof suit but it was more bother than it was

worth. The bees didn't seem to notice me at all. I have pollen coming in

and lots of activity. there's a new comb and some new white wax on areas

of the old combs. No eggs that i could see from the windows yet, but

there could be some closer to the center where I can't see.

>

> David, they have not shredded or dismantled the old comb, they are

cleaning out the remaining few dead bees stuck in the cells and have

polished everything. They've built out some areas with new wax too. This

their 6th complete day in the hive.

>

> Chris in NY

>

Thanks John, I will have to try it out for myself.

I figured if strange bees touched it it was probably verboten.

It's a really big bag, about 6 cups or so, so I hope it's tasty :-).



I'll move it to the freezer in the meanwhile, sounds easier than drying it.



Chris in NY





--- In warrebeekeeping@..., "moersch51" <moersch51@...> wrote:

>

> Hi Chris-

> I wouldn't feed it to the bees unless you are sure it came from

> disease-free hives. And how can you be sure of that?

> It would have been gathered using a pollen trap.

Hi Chris





> I was wondering if it could be fed to the bees (safely).



Unless you are certain of the original source, do not feed it to bees...

the disease risk is very high.



You can sprinkle it on your porridge at breakfast time.



Feeding pollen to bees is relatively complex...

http://dave-cushman.net/bee/droneraise.html

and would be difficult in Warre hives, bees will not move pollen more

than a nominal 80 mm to point of use.



--

Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY

http://melliferabees.net Email: dave.cushman@...

Short FallBack M/c, Build 7.21/2.01

Son of ORAC M/c, Build 5.o1/2.o1

Hi Dave.

Thanks for the advice and the link. I did some hunting and found a few sites

devoted to the health benefits of bee pollen....I never knew! I was reading your

drone information from an earlier post, it's interesting. When one of the local

guys here saw my Warre boxes he commented that natural comb is bad because bees

will make 'too many' drones if they have control over the cell size. I thought

that was funny.



I never got to see any of the drones from last year, but this year I saw two or

three in the package. Fascinating.



Chris in NY

N2CLA {my new vanity callsign}



--- In warrebeekeeping@..., Dave Cushman <dave.cushman@...> wrote:

>

> Hi Chris

>

>

> > I was wondering if it could be fed to the bees (safely).

>

> Unless you are certain of the original source, do not feed it to bees...

> the disease risk is very high.

>

> You can sprinkle it on your porridge at breakfast time.

>

> Feeding pollen to bees is relatively complex...

> http://dave-cushman.net/bee/droneraise.html

> and would be difficult in Warre hives, bees will not move pollen more

> than a nominal 80 mm to point of use.

>

> --

> Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY

> http://melliferabees.net Email: dave.cushman@...

> Short FallBack M/c, Build 7.21/2.01

> Son of ORAC M/c, Build 5.o1/2.o1

>

my amateur call sign used to be N2UPA. I let it expire in 2003.



Scot McPherson



On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 10:49 AM, pointydog<pointydog@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi Dave.

> Thanks for the advice and the link. I did some hunting and found a few sites

> devoted to the health benefits of bee pollen....I never knew! I was reading

> your drone information from an earlier post, it's interesting. When one of

> the local guys here saw my Warre boxes he commented that natural comb is bad

> because bees will make 'too many' drones if they have control over the cell

> size. I thought that was funny.

>

> I never got to see any of the drones from last year, but this year I saw two

> or three in the package. Fascinating.

>

> Chris in NY

> N2CLA {my new vanity callsign}

>

> --- In warrebeekeeping@..., Dave Cushman <dave.cushman@...>

> wrote:

>>

>> Hi Chris

>>

>>

>> > I was wondering if it could be fed to the bees (safely).

>>

>> Unless you are certain of the original source, do not feed it to bees...

>> the disease risk is very high.

>>

>> You can sprinkle it on your porridge at breakfast time.

>>

>> Feeding pollen to bees is relatively complex...

>> http://dave-cushman.net/bee/droneraise.html

>> and would be difficult in Warre hives, bees will not move pollen more

>> than a nominal 80 mm to point of use.

>>

>> --

>> Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY

>> http://melliferabees.net Email: dave.cushman@...

>> Short FallBack M/c, Build 7.21/2.01

>> Son of ORAC M/c, Build 5.o1/2.o1

>>

>

>







--

Scot McPherson, CISSP, MCSA

McPherson Family Farms

Le Claire, IA, USA

> Is pollen good for anything other than bee food? Seems a shame to leave it

> sitting, will it eventually spoil?

>

> If it can be fed, how do you do it?



You can sell it, or you can eat it yourself. OR you can save it for a

winter emergency. If the bees for some reason run into a pollen famine

in the late fall early winter, you can shake a cup of pollen into an

empty brood frame and they can then use it over winter for the

occasional winter brooding that noramlly occurs and early spring

buildup.



--

Scot McPherson, CISSP, MCSA

McPherson Family Farms

Le Claire, IA, USA

Chris wrote: "It is excellent human food, rich in protein, B vitamins, and

minerals."



I agree with John & Dave C; and because you live in an urban area there is

bound to

be a high diversity of plants, some, e.g. Galanthus spp. & Crocus spp.,

flowering early in the year when pollen shortage in the hive could be

greatest.



John wrote: "It is excellent human food, rich in protein, B vitamins, and

minerals."



And the pollen out of comb has an extraordinarily interesting taste. I tried

some a couple of days ago. The result of the lactic acid fermentation is

very noticeable.



Chris: "David, they have not shredded or dismantled the old comb, they are

cleaning out the remaining few dead bees stuck in the cells and have

polished everything. "



I was astonished at what I found yesterday with the colony I photographed

for the page about remodelling comb at

http://www.heaf.freeuk.com/warre_comb_remodelling.htm on 17 June. Then there

were a fair number of bees but most of the remaining comb was visible.

Yesterday that had all changed and it was comb completely covered with bees

right to the floor. I wish I'd given them the 3rd box on 17 June as the

rapid build up to fill box 2 may have triggered the swarming impulse.

____________________________________________________



David Heaf                      North-West Wales, UK

Warré & 'National' hives at 30 m over mean sea level

Warré beekeeping English web portal:

http://warre.biobees.com/index.html

                  ***OR***

http://www.heaf.freeuk.com/warre/

____________________________________________________

You're right David.

There are actually a lot of early pollen sources here, Galanthus being available

while there is still snow on the ground. I haven't tried tasting any of the

pollen from the bag yet...it just seems weird. The smell doesn't seem to 'go'

with anything that comes to mind. I won't feed it if there is any risk though,

so it will be human and not bee food.



I like lactobacillus fermented cucumbers and other fruits, but I can't imagine

the taste of fermented pollen. I wonder if the pollen in that big bag could be

used to flavor other fermented foods? Hmmmm.



The pictures of your bees' remodeling are amazing. What would drive them to do

that? Maybe not enought room for drones in the original design? (joking of

course, I have no real guess) The comb I gave my package was icky for sure,

there were dead bees in some cells that I couldn't get out and the whole was

beginning to grow green mildew. They just cleaned it up and are storing honey

where I can see it. they have one new complete comb now and are working on a

second, some new wax extending the depths of the old comb in places too. Still

all in just the top box.



Chris in NY



David wrote:

> I agree with John & Dave C; and because you live in an urban area there is

bound to be a high diversity of plants, some, e.g. Galanthus spp. & Crocus spp.,

flowering early in the year when pollen shortage in the hive could be greatest.

>

> And the pollen out of comb has an extraordinarily interesting taste. I tried

some a couple of days ago. The result of the lactic acid fermentation is very

noticeable.

>

> Chris: "David, they have not shredded or dismantled the old comb, they are

> cleaning out the remaining few dead bees stuck in the cells and have

> polished everything. "

>

> I was astonished at what I found yesterday with the colony I photographed

> for the page about remodelling comb at

> http://www.heaf.freeuk.com/warre_comb_remodelling.htm on 17 June. Then there

were a fair number of bees but most of the remaining comb was visible. Yesterday

that had all changed and it was comb completely covered with bees right to the

floor. I wish I'd given them the 3rd box on 17 June as the rapid build up to

fill box 2 may have triggered the swarming impulse.

> ____________________________________________________

>

> David Heaf                      North-West Wales, UK

> Warré & 'National' hives at 30 m over mean sea level

> Warré beekeeping English web portal:

> http://warre.biobees.com/index.html

>                  ***OR***

> http://www.heaf.freeuk.com/warre/

> ____________________________________________________

>

Chris wrote: "The pictures of your bees' remodeling are amazing. What would

drive them to do that?"



Probably old, brittle comb that has not had brood in yet. A colony given a

ox of that on four bars at one side decided not to use it and built on the

empty bars instead, But now they are running out of space with their new

white coms and I can see through the window that the demolition team has

moved on to the last year's comb.



(I'll publish pictures of uniting a chimney swarm with them in due course.)

____________________________________________________



David Heaf                      North-West Wales, UK

Warré & 'National' hives at 30 m over mean sea level

Warré beekeeping English web portal:

http://warre.biobees.com/index.html

                  ***OR***

http://www.heaf.freeuk.com/warre/

____________________________________________________