Author Topic: Pollen Substitute (Read 24691 times)

Ray4852 · « **on:** December 06, 2014, 10:34:08 am »

I use this recipe to make up my pollen candy. I add honeyB healthy, and Amino-B booster to it too

http://www.megabeediet.com/about.html#mixinginstructions

iddee · « **Reply #1 on:** December 06, 2014, 11:34:59 am »

After a brewery makes beer, it disposes of the spent yeast. They either give it away or throw it away, or sell it for whatever they can get. It makes a great pollen sub by itself, or you can add table sugar as an attractant, soy flour, dried egg yolk, or any additive you choose. I feed it dry, so no waste nor SHB to worry about.

Ray4852 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 06, 2014, 12:07:38 pm »

I want to feed it dry thru a 3 inch plastic drain pipe. Let the bees come and get it if they want it. I heard soy is no good for bees. This sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the tip.

iddee · « **Reply #3 on:** December 06, 2014, 12:47:13 pm »

There are 2 soys. One is good, the other has been questioned. I can't remember the name. Maybe someone can step in here.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 07, 2014, 11:39:49 pm »

So you just get spent yeast from a brewery and put it out and the bees come get it and use it like pollen in the hive?

iddee · « **Reply #5 on:** December 08, 2014, 08:13:35 am »

Yes. Th bucket is protection from wind and rain.

Ray4852 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 08, 2014, 09:54:41 am »

Nice set up,. The girls like it.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 09, 2014, 05:30:24 pm »

I'm striking out with the local breweries so far, They say they reuse their yeast and keep it wet. Said I would have to dry it out and crush it.

So, another beekeeper I talked to today says he feeds brewers yeast from the feed store. Its a powder that people mix in with animal feed as
a supplement. He mixes his some kind of flower.

Ray4852 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 09, 2014, 07:01:29 pm »

I checked 5 Breweries in Buffalo NY, No luck. They told me to try the micro breweries, No luck. We have a lot of wineries in Central NY. I called 3, 2 of them give it away to the local farmers. The 3rd one said I can have a 5 gallon pail wet. I can pick it up anytime free. The stuff in the store is brewers yeast. We need spent brewers yeast. Might as well get it at Mann Lake with free shipping. Ultra bee, or bee-pro.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 09, 2014, 10:12:14 pm »

I talked to a guy at one micro brewery and he said a few things that make me think. He said that brewers reuse their spent yeast. And I had another guy at a wine place tell me same thing. He also said once the bees take the spent yeast to the hives and mix it with honey and heat it activates again.

Question, isn't bee bread fermented?

If they want fermented bee bread, and if spent yeast reactivates, whats the difference in yeast and spent yeast?

Way above my pay grade here...

iddee · « **Reply #10 on:** December 09, 2014, 10:24:47 pm »

Yeast, 2.00 plus per pound.
Spent yeast, free or nearly so.

That's the difference.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 09, 2014, 11:15:07 pm »

Sorry Iddee, I meant is there a difference to the bees?

I understand what your saying, but I can't get spent yeast around here like what your saying.

I have found a 50lb bag of brewers yeast to mix with feed for 40.00 and a feed store.
And I think I can get it at a food distributor (bread machine yeast) as I may have a connection. So what I am asking is if I can't get spent yeast but
can find brewers yeast at a good deal, Will that work the same for the bees?

Afterthought- Is what your saying is the only difference is the price? Yeast is yeast?

iddee · « **Reply #12 on:** December 10, 2014, 06:36:52 am »

""Afterthought- Is what your saying is the only difference is the price? Yeast is yeast?""

YES

Yankee11 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 10, 2014, 08:35:27 am »

Takes me a while to get there sometimes. Thanks,

Marty68 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 10, 2014, 11:48:47 pm »

MegaBee Patty Mixing Guide

Patty Making Tips:

Patties are best made using a type of heavy syrup (HFCS, heavy sucrose syrup, or 50/50 blend).
i thought that syrup was bad for them. also, it said oil. what kind, liquid.

tecumseh · « **Reply #15 on:** December 11, 2014, 06:48:58 am »

AGAIN (hope you guys are not bored yet with this quite often repeated reply).... what Iddee said. beyond the small cost there is no one item comes as close to pollen in terms of amino acid content as does 'spent brewer yeast'. and to add some content to Iddee post soy flower should be 'defatted' < it is that component that the bees cannot process and is therefore potentially dangerous < when I need some I buy mine at Krogers so it is locally available. I am somewhat alarmed (from my reading on similar sites as this) at the odd and quite likely dangerous stuff folks add to a bee hive with the common thinking that adding something is better than doing nothing < which I would suggest is absolutely incorrect. I would like to find some source of dried egg yolk if anyone knows a good source for that kind of thing.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #16 on:** December 11, 2014, 08:54:27 am »

So Tec, you buy the defatted soy flower at Krogers?

Lburou · « **Reply #17 on:** December 12, 2014, 11:39:56 am »

I'm reading this thread with great interest. We had a master brewer from a micro brewery visit our Club a while ago wanting to get into honeybees. I stopped by the brewery yesterday and they had a liquid (brownish in tint) they described as a 'sugary' byproduct of their process. A local dairy farmer uses it to supplement his bovine menu.

Does anyone have experience with this sugary byproduct of a beer brewery? Workers at the brewery say yellow jackets and honey bees go after it. I'd be concerned about the ash content, but in spring it may be okay with cleansing flights.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 12, 2014, 07:07:59 pm »

Lburou,

That sounds what they were describing to me as their spent yeast. They said it was a wet bucket full. Would have to be dried out and then crushed or blended to make powder.

Cant find the stuff Iddee is talkiing about around here. I'm just gonne buy the brewers yeast from feed store and mix with the defatted soy flower. Not as cheap as the spent stuff, but not as high the the stuff from bee supply places.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #19 on:** December 13, 2014, 01:07:54 am »

I have looked extensively in the area for spent yeast with no luck.. but I expect that in time the right connections will be made.. Until then, I use Ultra Bee.. a 50 lb bag of it lasts about three years, so its not terribly expensive.. if you have less hives than I do it will last you even longer.. As far as i can tell it does not have an expiration date?
Putting out ANY, and i do mean ANY type of powdery substance in the spring the bees will SWARM to it.. My wife dumped out the Vacuum cleaner and I had bees in the dusty pile.. I put the ultra bee under the tray in my feed stands in March and early April, and the bees are quite literally FRANTIC to get the stuff.. Once real pollen begins to become available, they will begin to ignore the Ultra bee..
Watching your bees take this stuff is quite a lesson in JUST how clumsy a bee really is...