Pollen PattY TIME

February in the Northeast of the United States is a short month but our bees are getting ready for the spring.  Maple syrup has started to run and in a month we will start seeing the red of the maple buds.  Maples along with Willow trees provide an important source of early nectar and pollen for the bees in the month of March.  However, it is a good idea to provide supplemental sources of pollen for your bees during this month as well.  
The best way to do this is to provide pollen patties which can be purchased at any number of bee supply companies.  The pollen that your bees have stored at the end of the fall will be consumed or be in short supply and the pollen being brought in may not be enough to support the brood that the hive should be producing during the late winter/early summer time frame.
We suggest placing one patty per hive during a warm day that is at least above freezing.  The pollen patty is placed on top of the frames or on top of the inner cover where the bees can easily access it.  In other cases, we have placed a spacer to provide some more room between the top deep and inner cover.  We have had success using all three approaches.  The key is to keep from having the patty interfere with the bees access to top of the hive and/or prevent it from keeping moisture from venting from the hive.  Another suggestion is to keep the paper found on bottom of the patty on and allow the bees to access it from the top.  There are scenarios where the patty could get wet and break apart in the hive.  This is not common but it has happened on some of our hives.  
Finally, make sure you bees still have honey available and provide frames of capped honey if they are short.  If you don't have extra frames to provide it is still best to use fondant rather than winter sugar syrup.  Here is New Hampshire we still can expect cold days and its best to keep the bees on solid sugar products rather than liquid.