Honeyfields Simply Suet Blocks with Insects

Small garden birds burn through their reserves overnight in winter, which is why fat matters more than seed once the temperature drops, and why a suet block empties faster in January than a feeder of sunflower hearts ever does. The same is true again in spring when there are chicks to fill.

These are suet blocks sold ten to a pack. What goes into them, in descending order by weight: cereals first, then oils and fats including ruminant tallow, then seeds and ground peanuts, then insects at 0.4%, then various sugars. Crude protein comes out at 8.6% and gross energy at 505Kcal/100g, which is the figure that actually describes what a suet block is for. Honeyfields also declare preservatives and colourants among the additives.

• Pack of 10 suet blocks
• Gross energy 505Kcal/100g
• Crude protein 8.6%
• Cereals, oils and fats (including ruminant tallow), seeds, ground peanuts
• Insects 0.4%, various sugars
• Additives: preservatives, colourants

The insects are 0.4%. They are on the front of the pack and they are the last thing but one in the composition — behind cereals, fats, seeds and ground peanuts, and ahead only of the sugars. If you are buying these because a bird book told you insect-eating species need insects, this is not the product that delivers that; buy it for the fat and the 505Kcal/100g, which is the honest reason a suet block exists. It is also worth knowing there are added sugars, preservatives and colourants in here, and Honeyfields do not say which.

Who it's for: garden feeders who go through suet all winter and would rather buy ten at a time than one — and anyone whose feeder empties fastest during the breeding season, when Honeyfields specifically suggest using them.