Pollen patties need to go on top of the brood box. Only the nurse bees eat the pollen in order to make "royal jelly". A larva is a larva for six days. The first three days the larva only get royal jelly.
If the bees have everything they need without our help, the frame with the larva has a rainbow of honey or nectar and large amount of pollen on the frame with the larva. They do that because nurse bees feed each larva hundreds of times a day. They will not go up into a feeder to get pollen and, unlike sugar water, the workers cannot bring the pollen down to the nurse bees.
So the pollen patty needs to be on top of the brood box. If a person had two deep boxes on and the brood was in the bottom box, the pollen patty needs to be between the two boxes, above the bottom box.
A small spacer does make it easier to place the patty without having to squish it but if left on for more than a couple of weeks, the entire spacer will be a mess of newly drawn comb. Spacers work as long as you remember to take them off.
Thank you for asking this question, I just asked Dad about that the last time we were in my hive. I read that you mentioned a “spacer box” for the pollen patty. I just laid the patty across the top of the frames and kinda squished it down. It’s so messy and does stick to the top board. I’m wondering, should I get a “spacer box” for the pollen patty? Or maybe put the pollen patty in one half of the feeder keeping the other half for sugar water?
Thanks!
You aren't the only one who has talked about this problem. I've heard others say the same thing recently. I always put the inner cover below the feeder and tell my students to do so.
Recently a related question came up by someone who does put the inner cover below the feeder. The inside of the outer cover got covered with mold. I'm thinking about the fact that some people raise the lid up with coins in each of the corners just to allow a little air circulation. It seems like a good idea to me.
Should the top board (with small hole) go above or below a feeder box? I am finding a lot of comb and brood between the spacer box (for pollen patties) and the feeder, and wonder if putting the 'top board' below the feeder will help prevent them building as much comb there. When I open the hive, I am destroying a lot of that comb.