Spirulina as pollen substitute.

[NigelP]

I know from reading Randy Oliver's "blog" that he has trialled various pollen substitutes, non of which were as good as real pollen.
Now there may be something that is as good if not better than real pollen, Spirulina, it's made from a microalga Arthrospira platensis, A recently published paper "Nutritional and prebiotic efficacy of the microalga Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) in honey bees". https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-020-00770-5 its a free read.
Its amino acid profile is better than pollen, bees fed on the stuff gained weight faster and were extremely healthy as assess by gut bacterial fauna. Almost the same as with pure pollen. And again the substitutes came out badly.
Just a thought for anyone contemplating a bit of spring pollen substitution.
£17 quid a kg delivered next day by Amazon Prime...although I'm sure there will be cheaper options

[Steve 1972]

Do you think it is worth a try Nigel... luckily i went through my four hived nucs today all have very little stores (pollen included) ..all four Queens are not laying as good as i would like to see so i put the remaining bit of pollen substitute i had from manlake on the top bars to see if that would help..the weather has been so hit and miss at the moment so i will try anything if it can get the Queens laying properly again..

[NigelP]

Yup, I thinks it's worth a try as bees do not thrive well (long term) on the current pollen substitutes. This looks to be more like the real thing. I've got a few nucs that I added a frame of pollen to as they were struggling. Will see what the situation is this week.

[huntsman.]

'£17 quid a kg delivered next day by Amazon Prime...although I'm sure there will be cheaper options.'

Strong honeybees colonies may consume about 60kg of pollen a year. How far would 1kg of substitute go between a few hives?

There is a cheaper option and if the bees are kept in a suitable area, nature will provide when needed.

[NigelP]

There is a cheaper option and if the bees are kept in a suitable area, nature will provide when needed.

You are correct, but sources of pollen in Jan and Feb are as scarce as bee flying days at that time of year. That is the time to apply pollen substitutes, not late spring/summer when natural pollen is abundant. To find a possible "better than" pollen substitute is interesting , IMHO. Creates lots of possibilities.

[Steve 1972]

I have two Apiaries both abundant with pollen and nectar sources.. in fact i could not wish for anything better.. both apiaries have done well (brilliant) in fact for several years in these two locations but of late the weather has been pant's with very few foraging days..which says to me nothing is getting brought in on a regular basis but the big colonies keep using the stores regardless..that is where the poop hits the fan..feed substitute or suck it and see..i will go with the feed option..(what harm can it do)..? ..