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SuperBoost Honey Bee Brood Pheromone

Aid in spring build-up and increase honey yields.

Call to Purchase: 1-800-767-8658



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SuperBoost stimulates foraging, aids in the revitalization of overwintered colonies and increases honey production.

Scientifically Proven:
  • Up to 7x more pollen per returning forager
  • 276% increase in brood comb in overwintered colonies
  • 195% larger adult population and more than double the number of splits from overwintered colonies
  • 100% or greater increase in honey production by package and established colonies

How it Works:

The pheromone is contained in the plastic pouch mounted in the holder. Bees contact minute amounts of the pheromone by walking over the plastic membrane on the active side of the pouch.

Exposure to the pheromone has been scientifically proven to promote:

  • pollen and nectar collection
  • egg laying and establishment of brood comb
  • honey production

Steps to install SuperBoost

  • Detach disk from top of device
  • Insert ball joint into center of disk as shown
  • Hang unit between central frames within the middle of the bee cluster
  • Push frames snugly together
  • Use one device per hive

Replacement

Each SuperBoost device will last for five weeks. For use when feeding supplementary diet to overwintered colonies, as well as for establishment of package bee colonies, two treatments at five week intervals are recommended. For other uses, a second treatment is optional, depending on the duration of effect desired.

Timing Recommendation

Recommended timing based on current research results:

  • Use when supplementary diet is fed to bees for spring build-up of overwintered colonies
  • Use in spring and summer to assist with package bee establishment and to increase honey production
  • Use in established colonies just prior to nectar flow to increase honey production
  • Use in late summer to early fall to promote colony vigor when supplementary diet is fed to bees prior to overwintering

How to Store

  • Freeze upon arrival and store frozen until ready to use
  • Product may be re-frozen after thawing
  • Use soon after removal from freezer if possible

Figure 1.

After 70 days of exposure to SuperBoost beginning on 4 February 2009 at Abbotsford, British Columbia, 10 treated colonies had consumed 50% more pollen substitute diet (BeePro®) than 11 control colonies. The letters a and b indicate that the final weights of diet consumed are significantly different, with a probability of 97.2% as determined by a t-test.

Figure 2.

After 70 days of exposure to SuperBoost beginning on 4 February 2009 at Abbotsford, British Columbia, 12 treated colonies (including two dead-outs) had a 216% greater area of brood comb on average than 12 untreated control colonies (including one dead-out). The letters a and b over the bars at the right indicate that the mean areas are significantly different, with a probability of 96.5% as determined by a t-test.

Figure 3.

After 70 days of exposure to SuperBoost beginning on 4 February 2009 at Abbotsford, British Columbia, 12 treated colonies (including two dead-outs) had a 178% higher adult population on average than 12 untreated control colonies (including one dead-out). The numbers above the bars for individual colonies indicate colonies that were split and the number of daughter colonies produced during the 70 exposure period and the 26 days thereafter. The extra daughter colonies in the SuperBoost-treated group would provide additional income from pollination fees and honey harvested.

Figure 4.

High correlations for SuperBoost-treated colonies between Day 16 ranking by adult numbers and day 70 rankings for brood comb area and adult numbers indicate that rank early in the study is a good predictor of rank at the end of the study. Thus, Superboost-treated colonies responded in accordance with their initial size, probably because of enriched protein in the oral glands fed to the queen and the brood. In contrast, untreated control colonies responded to other factors, most probably vigorous or weak queens.

Figure 1.

In two successive years, treatment of new package bee colonies with SuperBoost resulted in significantly increased honey harvest. The 2009 experiment had 58 treated and 52 control colonies, while the smaller 2010 experiment had nine treated and six control colonies. Treatment was begun at the start of nectar flow and lasted for 15 weeks in 2009 (three treatments, the last one probably unnecessary) and for 10 weeks in 2010.

Figure 2.

Twenty established colonies treated for 10 weeks with SuperBoost in 2010 produced 78% more honey than 18 control colonies, verifying the result found with newly-established package bee colonies. Note the harvest was taken periodically, so honey could be labeled with the crop being pollinated before colonies were moved to another crop. Periodic harvest may be necessary to prevent bees from using the honey to produce more brood.

SuperBoost: A Scientific Summary - Written by John Borden, PhD. Chief Scientific Officer, Contech Enterprises Inc.

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