Influence of Different Diets on Growth and Development of Eastern Honey Bee (Apis cerana)

Abstract

In recent years, honey bees have been stressed by multiple factors, with malnutrition posing a significant threat to the healthy development of honey bee colonies. To keep a colony healthy and productive, beekeepers supply their colonies with supplementary pollen or commercial pollen substitutes during periods of pollen dearth or insufficient pollen quantity or quality. In this study, we evaluated the effects of four natural pollen types (oilseed rape pollen, camellia pollen, lotus pollen and buckwheat pollen) and two commercial pollen substitutes (Diet 1 and Diet 2) against a control group (sucrose solution) on Apis cerana through cage experiments. The food consumption, live body weight, longevity, hypopharyngeal gland development and midgut proteolytic enzyme activity of caged workers were measured. The food consumption rates of oilseed rape pollen and buckwheat pollen were greater than the other diets. Oilseed rape pollen and camellia pollen were recognized as excellent-quality diets for hypopharyngeal gland development and midgut proteolytic enzyme activity. Over the entire experimental period, the caged workers fed with lotus pollen had a similar diet consumption and body weight to those fed with pollen substitutes, and these bees had a significantly higher survival rate than those fed with other diets. The results indicated that the commercial pollen substitutes appeared to be less beneficial to caged A. cerana workers than the natural pollen resources.

Keywords: body weight; diet consumption; hypopharyngeal gland; midgut proteolytic enzyme activity; pollen; pollen substitute; survival.

Figure 1

A model of the experimental cage used in the study. (A) The Eppendorf tube with the protein diet; (B) the syringe containing sucrose solution; (C) ventilation holes; (D) the sampling hole.

Figure 2

The pollen pellets and pollen substitutes used in this study.

Figure 3

Daily consumption of diets by caged workers over a period of 20 days.

Figure 4

The body weight of caged workers fed with different diets.

Figure 5

The survival probability of workers supplied with different diets.

Figure 6

The development of the hypopharyngeal gland in adult workers fed with different diets. (A) A comparison of the surface area of acinus at different time points; (B) a comparison of the protein content at different time points. Different letters indicate significant differences among the treatments (p < 0.05).

Figure 7

The total midgut proteolytic enzyme activity of workers fed with different diets. Different letters indicate significant differences among the treatments (p < 0.05).