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Honey Bee Nutrition:

            Honey bees obtain all of their nutritional requirements from a diverse combination of pollen and nectar. Pollen is the only natural protein source for honey bees. Adult worker honey bees consume 3.4-4.3 mg of pollen per day to meet a dry matter requirement of 66-74% protein.[1] The rearing of one larva requires 125-187.5 mg pollen or 25-37.5 mg protein for proper development.[1] Dietary proteins are broken down into amino acids, ten of which are considered essential to honey bees: methionine, tryptophan, arginine, lysine, histidine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, threonine, leucine, and valine. Of these amino acids, honey bees require highest concentrations of leucine, isoleucine, and valine, however elevated concentrations of arginine and lysine are required for brood rearing.[2] In addition to these amino acids, some B vitamins including biotin, folic acid, nicotinamide, riboflavin, thiamine, pentothenate, and most importantly, pyridoxine are required to rear larvae. Pyridoxine is the most prevalent B vitamin found in royal jelly and concentrations vary throughout the foraging season with lowest concentrations found in May and highest concentrations found in July and August. Honey bees lacking dietary pyridoxine were unable to rear brood.[2]

Pollen is also a lipid source for honey bees ranging from 0.8% to 18.9%.[1] Lipids are metabolized during the brood stage for precursors required for future biosynthesis. Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K are not considered essential but have shown to significantly improve the number of brood reared.[1] Honey bees ingest phytosterols from pollen to produce 24-methylenecholesterol and other sterols as they cannot directly synthesize cholesterol from phytosterols. Nurse bees have the ability to selectively transfer sterols to larvae through brood food.[1]

Nectar is collected by foraging worker bees as a source of water and carbohydrates in the form of sucrose. The dominant monosaccharides in honey bee diets are fructose and glucose but the most common circulating sugar in hemolymph is trehalose which is a disaccharide consisting of two glucose molecules.[3] Adult worker honey bees require 4 mg of utilizable sugars per day and larvae require about 59.4 mg of carbohydrates for proper development.[1]

Honey bees require water to maintain osmotic homeostasis, prepare liquid brood food, and to cool the hive through evaporation. A colony’s water needs can generally be met by nectar foraging as it has high water content. Occasionally on hot days or when nectar is limited, foragers will collect water from streams or ponds to meet the needs of the hive.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Brodschneider, Robert; Crailsheim, Karl (2010-05-01). "Nutrition and health in honey bees". Apidologie. 41 (3): 278–294. doi:10.1051/apido/2010012. ISSN 0044-8435.
  2. ^ a b Anderson, Leroy M; Dietz, A. (1976). "Pyridoxine Requirement of the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) For Brood Rearing". Apidologie.
  3. ^ Karasov, William H.; Martinez del Rio, Carlos (2008). Physiological Ecology: How Animals Process Energy, Nutrients, and Toxins. Princeton. pp. 63–66.
  4. ^ Kuhnholz, Susanne (1997). "The Control of Water Collection in Honey Bee Colonies". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
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