Mann LakeUltra Bee Pollen Substitute, High-Protein Dry Feed for Healthy Bee Colonies to Support Brood Growth & Vitality, Nutrient-Rich with Vitamins and Amino Acids, No Animal by-Products, 10-Lb

Okay..let’s establish the baseline. I’m a shepherd, I run a small farm, I’M REALLY CHEA….er…THRIFTY…That said I swallowed hard when I saw the price tag. I hadn’t planned on buying a new tractor this year…or 10lbs of dry bee food!Once you get over this hurdle and read the rest of this you will press ‘BUY’ just as I did! While this is NOT Pollen…it IS a well balanced scientific diet of 58% protein that can be fed straight or incorporated into 1 to 7.5 mix hard patties or gooey fondant…depending on your style.The Bees LOVE IT! I started by hanging a 12” long 4” ABS Pipe with one cap glued securely and one removable for refills (I threaded it so it would reliably last through a nuclear blast…it could happen). I drilled four 1/4” holes into each end just below the half way up point so that rain would not run in and start mold growth…(yes I glued a tiny awning over the holes but you’re getting distracted!) I put in about 6 ounces of the stuff and left it. The bees found it and helped themselves…a group of bees unhooked it from the branch and flew it to the back door and kept buzzing and thumping the door until I refilled it two days later!…(that didn’t ACTUALLY happen)….They went through it in two days and I put in 8 ounces …(which they ate, took, stuffed in their pockets…whatever bees do with dry food)…that DID happen…I am trying mixing it with sugar 1 part Mann Lake FD210 Ultra Bee Dry Feed to 7.5 parts granulated organic cane sugar. This seems to be a mixture they can appreciate. This Winter I will add water and make a fondant wrapped in parchment paper and place it in both the Langstrom and Horizontal Flat Bar Hives along with a very thick sugar syrup that resists (but does not always prevent) freezing. I don’t feed throughout the Winter because they don’t have high nutritional needs when they are in ‘hunker down for the cold’ mode. If the bees suddenly grow odd appendages or start speaking Latin to me and solving complex calculations due to super-bee-brain food and high quality fondant…I will update this immediately..(that has NOT ..yet…actually happened).If you cannot afford POLLEN…(10X’s MORE EXPENSIVE) then consider buying just 1lb and adding it to this mixture. It is unnecessary from the Nutritional point of view but from the Bee Satisfaction Rating point of view…should they happen to find your smart phone…they might put some very solidly appreciative ratings on YELP! under the heading ‘We Love Our Bee Keeper!’ Think about it….it’s only $20 extra and will last a very long time and BEES LOVE POLLEN! (If you advertise ‘Organic’ VERIFY that the pollen you buy IS Organic!’…(get that in writing because people actually CARE!)One little nasty about this product. If you use this you cannot put ‘ORGANIC’ on your honey because you can’t personally verify all the ingredients and every step of their growth and processing…sad…but it’s a thing.As a recommendation to the Manufacturer: Consider making a line of ORGANIC CERTIFIED Mann Lake FD211 Ultra Bee Dry Feed (Pail, 10lb). I think there would bee an ENORMOUS READY MARKET for it!I don’t know about honey in your area but CERTIFIED Organic Honey captures about 50% higher prices (but actually offers a lower profit margin to the producer). But I digress….

My bees love it when no alternatives are "awake" in early spring / middle summer

The media could not be loaded. I lost my biggest hive. I thought they had plenty of stores, but between one day and another they all flew off. My other 2 hives are still full of bees, but I was afraid to lose them. So I bought this. I made pollen patties with it and placed them in the hives, but we have such wish washy weather here in N Texas. Freezing one week and warm the next. The bees leave the hive looking for food. I know this will shorten their lifespan, even though they are winter bees. So I put some out in my pro nuc to see if they will find it. This is about 100 ft from my apiary. It only took an hour or so and it was full of foraging bees. They may not all be mine, but I don’t care. I do not want to lose another hive. I will continue to feed in this way as long as the weather cooperates. I’m so glad this is available on Amazon. The bees appear to love it.

There were a few small bugs crawling around in it when I opened it. It was sealed and I did have to break the seal so they must have been in there when it was sealed up. I was going to return it but I scooped them out. There were about five of them and they don't seem to be throughout. The product otherwise seems very good. Nice bright color attractive to bees. Bees love it and the protein content is higher than another brand I've tried. The bees prefer this product by far. I didn't see any other customers mentioning any bugs so maybe what I experienced was a fluke. Anyway, I'm happy with the product. I guess if the bugs were throughout, I may feel differently but like I said there were only a few in the top layer. I have not seen any more after I took the first five out.

Good product for the price. Bees love it when there are no flowers in bloom

Great value nicely packed Very healthy for my bees Easy to feed Wonderful product

The media could not be loaded. I live in San Diego, so although there’s nothing blooming now in January, the bees are active. I want to encourage early brood, so ordered a clear 4 inch, 4 foot long piece of tubing from Amazon. I initially used the end fittings described in tube feeder videos, but ended up just filling the tube with the pollen substitute, and sliding it into the branches of a tree away from foot traffic. The bees emptied it in a day. The next day, some were waiting for the refill! My hive check had far more eggs and larvae than 2 weeks ago. I highly recommend this for dry feeding to get ready for spring.

MY HONEYBEES LOVE ULTRA BEE FROM MANN LAKE...THEY APPEAR TO BE STRONGER