Well, another lesson learned…

As mentioned previously, one of my hives was performing very badly. After some online research, I decided to try MegaBee, a pollen substitute that has some additives which supposedly maximized a bee’s health. I ordered a 40# bag and waited.

As fate would have it, Hive 2’s health and vigor began to increase. By the time the MegaBee arrived, they had put on a lot of growth in a single week. No more Wax Moths and things appeared to be improving. But, now I had the MegaBee and wanted to put it to use (every bit helps…or so I thought…)

The MegaBee arrived with about 3 sentences of explanation. A little browsing online confirmed this was the only info I was going to get, so I followed it. I made up a batch of thick sugar syrup and added the MegaBee. What a mess. It created a sludge – the MegaBee did not wholely dissolve into the syrup. I kept working it, but it did not improve much. Figuring this was part of the solution, I put it in both of my hives and left them for a week.

Yesterday, it was like camp Auschwitz in my hives. Both feeders had about a dozen bees floating in the stuff, dead. In addition, instead of a bunch of bees eating the stuff, only a few were working at it. I do not think they liked that stuff. It may work great when crafted into patties, but I purchased it to add it to the syrup. In that, I would mark it as a major failure.

I will write the company and see if they have a response. I would not recommend this stuff to anyone at this point.