Honey bee colonies managed for agricultural pollination are highly dependent on human inputs, especially for disease control and supplemental nutrition. Hives are routinely fed artificial "pollen substitute" diets to compensate for insufficient nutritional forage in the environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different artificial diets in a northern California, US commercial beekeeping operation from August through February. This time period represents an extended forage dearth when supplemental nutrition is used to stimulate late winter colony growth prior to almond pollination in the early spring. A total of 144 honey bee colonies were divided into 8 feeding groups that were replicated at three apiary sites. Feeding groups received commercial diets (Global, Ultra Bee, Bulk Soft, MegaBee, AP23, Healthy Bees), a beekeeper-formulated diet (Homebrew), or a sugar negative control. Diets were analyzed for macronutrient and amino acid content then evaluated with respect to honey bee colony population size, average bee weight, nutrition-related gene expression, gut microbiota abundance, and pathogen levels.Replicated at three apiary sites, two pollen-containing diets (Global and Homebrew) produced the largest colonies and the heaviest bees per colony. Two diets (Bulk Soft and AP23) that did not contain pollen led to significantly larger colonies than a sugar negative control diet. Diet macronutrient content was not correlated with colony size or health biomarkers. The sum of dietary essential amino acid deficiencies relative to leucine content were correlated with average bee weight in November and colony size used for almond pollination in February. Nutrition-related gene expression, gut microbiota, and pathogen levels were influenced by apiary site, which overrode some diet effects. Regarding microbiota, diet had a significant impact on the abundance of Bifidobacterium and Gilliamella and trended towards effects on other prominent bee gut taxa.Multiple colony and individual bee measures are necessary to test diet efficacy since honey bee nutritional responses are complex to evaluate. Balancing essential amino acid content relative to leucine instead of tryptophan may improve diet protein efficiency ratios. Optimization of bee diets could improve feed sustainability and agricultural pollination efficiency by supporting larger, healthier honey bee colonies. 

/pdf/effects-of-different-artificial-diets-on-commercial-honey-3igvo3vk.pdf

Effects of different artificial diets on commercial honey bee colony performance, health biomarkers, and gut microbiota

Sterol utilization in honey bees fed a synthetic diet: Effects on brood rearing

SummaryAddition to the diet fed to honeybee colonies in cages of either whole-pollen lipids, or the fraction soluble in cold acetone, resulted in a significant increase in the amount of food consumed. On the other hand addition of the fraction insoluble in cold acetone, or of an extract of the volatile substances in pollen, led to decreased food consumption.

Substances that Attract Caged Honeybee Colonies to Consume Pollen Supplements and Substitutes

SummarySeveral sizes of hive were treated for colony viability and ease of manipulation when colonies of honeybees were confined within screened cages. Hives containing either a single standard frame (1742 cm2) or a single miniature frame (431 cm2) were acceptable, but hives containing a single standard frame were used in our experiments because they were easier to manipulate and produced more brood that could be used for other experimental purposes.A small colony was established in each of several 1·8 × 1·8 × 2·0-m screened cages. Pollen cakes containing 0·017 ppm permethrin, 0·16 ppm malathion, 5·12 ppm methoxychlor, 10 ppm difiubenzuron, 0·17 ppm carbaryl or no pesticide were fed to the colonies to determine the effects on the bees of chronic exposure. During a test period of 10 weeks only methoxychlor caused a significant reduction (P<0'05) in quantity of brood reared, amount of pollen cake consumed, and amount of sucrose syrup stored in the colonies. Diflubenzuron at 10 ppm caused greater than 50% re...

Influence Upon Honeybees of Chronic Exposure to Very Low Levels of Selected Insecticides in Their Diet

SummaryExtensive and rapid food transfer occurred between colonies of honeybees when 2 colonies were confined in each of 3 outdoor flight cages. Using visually distinct genotypes (cordovan and Caucasian) we could distinguish between worker bees of the 2 colonies within each cage. One colony in each cage was fed with syrup containing rhodamine dye. In samples of bees taken from clusters outside the hives after 24 h of treatment, dye was found in the digestive tract of 27–56% of workers from the untreated colonies; after 48 h it was present in 53–74%. Of all worker bees sampled from inside the untreated colonies, 45% contained dye after 68 h. Cells in all combs from untreated colonies had a deposit of dye, and food surrounding the larvae was also dyed. After 5 days only 0·5–3·6% of the worker bees in untreated colonies had drifted there from treated colonies; 11 out of 1200 bees were observed entering the wrong hive. Although 93% of the drifted bees had dye in the digestive tract, drift was much less freque...

Food Sharing Between Honeybee Colonies in Flight Cages

Artificial Diets for Honey Bees, Apis Mellifera

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Artificial Diets for Honey Bees, Apis Mellifera