Vanessa Corby-Harris USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center Progress and Prospects in Developing Dietary Supplements: The Vital Role Beekeepers Are Playing Vanessa Corby-Harris USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center

Nutrition affects all of these… Parasites Malnutrition Pesticides Monoculture Nutrition is a problem we can tackle! Management Weather

Natural forage is best!!!... But not always available Drought (No water = no forage, poor qualit) Supplemental feed is often necessary What should we put in the supplement? Identify what bees need at all stages of life in order to improve artificial diets, inform lab use policy R. Snyder

Some current projects Field studies to evaluate nutritional supplements P. apium project How different pollens impact nurse hypopharyngeal gland (HG) development, individual health Seasonal pollens and individual health (Gloria’s talk) Different pollen types (i.e., corn versus almond)

Perform initial experiments, ID candidates More refined lab tests Our field tests Give to beekeepers to test This first part has taken almost 4 years – we are getting close to this last part. Deliverable Redesign or retest Deliverable

Some current projects Field studies to evaluate nutritional supplements P. apium project How different pollens impact nurse hypopharyngeal gland (HG) development, individual health Seasonal pollens and individual health (Gloria’s talk) Different pollen types (i.e., corn versus almond) Ultimate goal: Identify what bees need at all stages of life in order to improve artificial diets and better inform land use policy With beekeepers ~2 years to prime time

Probiotics have long been added to human and animal feed Honey bee probiotics are also available. Can we use what we know about honey bee bacteria to offer novel probiotic candidates?

P. apium (Alpha 2.2) is found in larvae and improves their survival 1st instar 2nd instar 3rd instar 4th instar 5th instar Alpha 2.2 Lactobacillus kunkeei Lactobacillus Firm5 Bacillus sp. Vojvodic et al. 2013

P. apium (Alpha 2.2) in patty gets to larvae CFUs per 100 larvae Alpha 2.2 Negative (no bacteria) Wilcoxon/Kruskall-Wallis test p = 0.036

P. apium (Alpha 2.2) reduced Nosema burden by ~40% Brood frames sampled from 10 hives per treatment (Alpha + or Alpha -) <18h bees inoculated with 10,000 spores in sugar water Individuals dissected at 10 days post-inoculation Bees inoculated with sugar water alone had ~0.0038 x 109 spores t48=3.980, p = 0.0002

P. apium (Alpha 2.2) increased hive strength coming out of winter This result was non-significant, power analyses show more hives needed.

www.beebacteria.weebly.com

12 participants, >150 hives Perform initial experiments, ID candidates More refined lab tests P. apium project so far 12 participants, >150 hives Located in WI, ID, PA, NY, MN, KS, NJ, GA, NC, TX Bacteria added to hives in Fall of 2016 Expect first data in Spring of 2017 Overwintering success Our field tests Give to beekeepers to test Deliverable Redesign or retest Deliverable

Pollen types experiment What plant taxa do bees collect from? How do different pollens impact growth? What are the pollens’ nutritional profiles (amounts of amino acids, etc)? Can elements of beneficial pollens be fed to bees to improve their health?

ID pollens with DNA sequence NE Mississippi “Rapini” Bean Desert California during almond bloom Almond

HG size differed with pollen type * Average acinus size (mm2) Bean Desert Almond

Pollens have different nutritional potency

Bees fed pollens with less protein and more lipids have larger HGs Total protein (µg/mL) Total lipids (µg/mg pollen) Average HG size (µm2) Almond 283 109 21 ± 0.245 Desert 326 93 22 ± 0.250 Bean 414 66 17 ± 0.248 More protein should mean larger HGs (Standifer 1967; Pernal & Currie 2000; Di Pasquale et al. 2013) Digestibility issue? (DeGrandi-Hoffman et al. 2016) Value in comparing natural pollens to determine their nutritional value, then ask what differs among them Fats or nutrient balance need more attention? Particular AAs or fats that we know have a physiological function?

Asparagus and chestnut pollens promote HG growth (Sunflower) (Mustard) (Chestnut) Omar et al. 2016

Phe and Arg are more abundant in potent pollens Omar et al. 2016 Our results EAAs higher in potent pollens Phenylalanine Arginine Histidine Methionine Leucine Good pollens Asparagus Chestnut Not as nutritious Sunflower Mustard FeedBee® Potent pollens Almond Desert Not potent Bean

Pollen types project so far Perform initial experiments, ID candidates More refined lab tests Pollen types project so far Value in comparing natural pollens, multiple studies We have some candidates to test further (Arg, Phe) To beekeepers within 2-3 years if successful Our field tests Give to beekeepers to test Deliverable Redesign or retest Deliverable

Perform initial experiments, ID candidates More refined lab tests Identify what bees need at all stages of life in order to improve artificial diets and better inform land use policy. Our field tests Give to beekeepers to test This first part has taken almost 4 years – we are getting close to this last part. Deliverable Redesign or retest Deliverable

Thank you! Lucy Snyder Charlotte Meador