Although honey provides the simple carbohydrates necessary to generate warmth and to fuel flight, many more compounds and minerals are necessary for proper development of young bees from egg to adult and to maintain optimal health and vigour through adult life. Under ideal conditions , bees will get the necessary nutrients in abundance through pollen collection and will maintain a store of natural pollen in their combs for times when none is available. However, under modern management, bees are kept in areas where they would not naturally do well. Further, even in good bee areas and in good years, some hives may not have sufficient populations to forage effectively, others may be weakened by viruses or nosema, pesticides or other factors may intervene to prevent full and proper nutrition. Bees can handle a great deal of adversity , however in order to get the best performance, whether the goal is to produce more bees, more honey or better pollination of crops, the beekeeper must ensure that the bees never go hungry for honey or pollen.
Good nutrition goes a long way to fending off diseases, winter loss, and 'mysterious' dwindling.
The major essential nutrient provided by the patties described here is protein, although other essential nutrients ride along in the mix. It is apparently possible to make patties that entirely replace natural pollen for periods of time, but that is not the goal here. The intent of these patties is to supplement natural pollen and for that purpose they work very well. Protein Feeds BeePro , a product of Mann Lake claims to be a pollen substitute , not supplement. However the exact detailed nutritional composition of BeePro is not revealed, nor guaranteed as far as I know.