Effect of Feeding PRO BEE Diets (as Protein Supplement)on Worker Honey Bees, Body Weight, Protein and Lipid Storage(Apis mellifera)

Babayi, Sakine; Nehzati, Gholamali; Malekzade, Hossein; Abbasi, Saeed

doi:10.22059/ijas.2012.24907

Effect of Feeding PRO BEE Diets (as Protein Supplement)on Worker Honey Bees, Body Weight, Protein and Lipid Storage(Apis mellifera)

Authors

sakine babayi

gholamali nehzati

hossein malekzade

saeed abbasi

10.22059/ijas.2012.24907

Abstract

Honey bees as other animal creatures require water and nutrients, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water for their maintenance, growth and reproduction. They normally obtain their nutritional requirements from flowers, but at times when there aren,t sufficient flowers available(fall, late winter and early spring) they need supplemental feeding to prevent their being weakened. In this study, four different PRO BEE diets in a completely randomized design of four treatments and five replications was performed in caged worker honeybees (Apis mellifera). Effects of nutritional treatments on carcass fat and protein levels (at different ages of 7, 14 and 21 days), the amount of feed intake (up to the end of test period), time and mortality rate were assessed. Statistical results showed that the amount of feed intake and losses in different treatments are significantly different (P <0.05).The most feed consumption occured in diet 2 and the lowest for diet 4. Protein, fat and dry matter in worker bee carcasses did not show significant differences. Results of the study finally showed the overall beneficial effects of PRO BEE feeding diets to the bees and provision of the needed growth and health to the colonies.

Keywords

carcass fat

Carcass protein

Honeybee

PRO BEE diets

Supplemental feeding