Description
Global Patties, 4 1-pound patties (approximate weight) with 15% pollen. Pollen
patties should be fed in the spring before natural pollen is available.
Feeding should start no earlier than one month before the first reliable
spring pollen flow is expected. In the spring, honey and pollen are converted
for brood and young bees to replace the old, overwintered adults which are
quickly nearing the end of their lives. This brood is the future of the colony
and the surviving adult bees invest everything they have into the brood,
including using protein from their own bodies. If these new young bees receive
adequate nourishment, they will be healthy and well-nourished and the colony
will build up fully and quickly. Each developing bee needs a constant protein
supply for almost six weeks in order to develop properly. The developing
larvae receive protein in their jelly feed for six days. Then 12 days later
when they emerge as adults they must eat protein during the next 18 days to
complete growth into strong adult bees and to feed more larvae. If protein is
lacking at any point during those six weeks, some brood will either fail to
develop or become weaker, stunted adults. If they suffer from mite predation,
the outlook is even worse. In a protein starved colony, there are eggs and
some small larvae, but that brood is torn out again and again because it's
underfed, leaving only small amounts of patchy sealed brood. When protein is
provided we soon see a good brood pattern. The best use of patties is to put
on more patties than the bees will need and make sure the bees never come
close to running out until the flowers are blooming and the weather is settled
and you see an arc of fresh pollen around each patch of brood.
