Honey Bee Nutrition and Feeding-Spring Colony Dr. James P. Strange And Houston Judd USDA-ARS- Pollinating Insect Research Unit USU Biology Department

Nutrition and Diet Diet is what the bees eat. Pollen Nectar Nutrition is what the bees need to grow and develop. Protein Carbohydrates Lipids Vitamins and Minerals Water

Nutrition and Diet Bees feed primarily at flowers Pollen from anthers (male reproductive parts) Nectar from nectaries Floral Extrafloral

Nutrition and Diet Pollen provides protein and lipids Vitamins and minerals Nectar provides sugar and salts Water sources for hydration and salts

Ingestion and digestion Alimentary canal Mouth Esophagus Honey stomach In honey stomach enzymes break down sucrose (invertase, glucose oxidase) Sugars can either be regurgitated or passes through the proventiculus

Ingestion and digestion Alimentary canal Midgut is where most digestion occurs Digested food passes to the small and large intestines where most absorption occurs Final absorption takes place in the rectum Total passage time is about 2.5 hours

Nutrition and Diet Nutrition must be maintained at the right quantitative and qualitative balance Adult worker bees need protein from days 1-14 Drones from 1-8 days First 6 days are the most important for hypopharyngeal gland development in workers

Brood food Royal jelly is fed to developing larvae and queens Nurse bees need a complex of B vitamins to synthesize royal jelly in the hypopharyngeal glands Thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide (niacin, nicotinic acid), pyridoxine, pantothenate, folic acid, biotin Also ascorbic acid (vitamin C) New work on bee gut flora

Nutrition and Diet Queens need large amounts of hypopharyngeal gland secretions from workers in the first 5-6 days to develop ovaries Must eat secretions throughout life for egg production Colony collects 10-26kg per year

Nutrition and Diet Nectar is the main source of carbohydrates (sugar) Used mostly for energy for flight and heat production Glucose, fructose, sucrose, trehalose, maltose, melezitose Toxic or unusable sugars include mannose, galactose, lactose and dextrin

Nutrition and Diet Lipids include fatty acids, sterols and phospholipids Need a dietary sterol which is important in cell membrane construction

Proper nutrition When pollen is restricted colonies Slow down or stop rearing brood Work life span decreases When good pollen is present Colonies produce more brood and grow Higher honey yields Buffer against Varroa parasitism Decrease Nosema infection levels

Seasonal Diets Colonies in spring have high pollen needs for brood rearing and colony growth Colonies in summer must balance nectar and pollen In the fall, colonies have to insure nectar is stored, but need pollen to produce strong winter bees In the winter the diet is almost exclusively honey

Colony Growth and Reproduction Swarming Fall honey storage, winter prep Spring build up Winter

Pollen http://www.fossilpark.org.za/pages/sc-photosyn.html

Pollen Protein content varies greatly 10-35% total protein Bees tend to collect a diversity of pollens Also contains lipids Minerals Vitamins Indigestible cellulose or hemi-cellulose and pectin

Pollen Subs Mega-bee Bee Pro Ultra Bee Dadant AP23 ® Bee Builder (Mann Lake Ltd.) Brood Builder (Dadant)

Nectar A complex secretion of liquid from nectaries of plants Sucrose, glucose, fructose Oils Minerals Water

Sugar Subs Sucrose (cane or beet) Pro Winter Patties (Mann Lake Ltd.) HFCS and Hydroxymethylfurfural

Supplements Honey-B-Healthy® (essential oils) Amino-B-BoosterTM (amino acids) Hobby Shots Complete® (amino acids) Brood DMF® (probiotic) Optima® (amino acids) Nosevit Plus® (plant polyphenols) Etc.

What Feeding Do You Need? If you take home one thing today: How much and when you feed depends on your goals and the needs of your bees But, because you asked…

Colony Growth and Reproduction Swarming Fall honey storage, winter prep Spring build up Winter

Early Spring When daytime temps are above 60°F Add pollen patties? Maybe. Are they bringing in pollen? Can add frames with honey and stored pollen once they are rearing their own brood and it is above 60°F Never feed honey or pollen from diseased colonies

Spring When daytime temps are above 60°F Feed weekly with a light syrup This stimulates brood production and insures against starvation if weather turns bad Usually 3-4 feedings at weekly intervals are enough Never feed honey or pollen from diseased colonies

Who has fed their bees?

Easy recipes for syrup Light Syrup 1:1 Heavy Syrup 2:1 Used in spring to encourage brood production and comb building 1 pound sugar in 2 cups water Heavy Syrup 2:1 Used in fall to build stores 1 pound of sugar in 1 cup water

Easy recipes for syrup Light Syrup (fills 5 gallon frame feeders) Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with granulated sugar (about 15 pounds) Add hot water to the bucket until it is about ¾ full Stir to dissolve sugar Add water to bring volume up to 5 gallons Heavy Syrup Put 25 pounds of sugar into a 5 gallon bucket Add HOT water to the sugar until you can stir the sugar

Recipe for pollen patties… Follow directions on the label MegaBee recommends a 1:1 powder to heavy syrup ration If using actual pollen, look for fresh frozen and STERILIZED pollen Dried pollen loses nutritional quality Unsterilized pollen transmits disease

Coming out of winter checklist Clean up your dead bees Open the colony Throw away (double bag or burn) any frames that are diseased Nosema Un-emerged bees with sunken caps Deformed bees of any type Obvious mouse or moth damage that bees can’t repair Scrape and surface sterilize wooden wear Bottoms Lids Inside of boxes Repaint

Coming out of winter checklist Check for healthy colonies Honey stores Pollen stores New brood Nosema Crawling bees MITES!!! Sugar roll Sticky board Ether roll

Coming out of winter checklist Reduce hive size to one box if needed Reduce the entrance if needed Feed if needed Treat for mites Prepare to requeen if needed

Part IV: Pests and Diseases

Diseases If you keep bees, you keep mites, and fungi, and bacteria, and protozoa, and amoeba, and viruses, and…

Mites Tracheal Varroa Isle of Wight Disease Live in the trachea of the adult bees Weaken the colony Treated with menthol Varroa Main cause of honey bee losses in last two decades Parasitize pupal and adult bees Association with bee viruses Many treatments

Foulbrood Before Varroa the #1 cause of bee loss Bacterial (EFB and AFB) Largely controlled prophylactically with antibiotics Now the VHD requires a prescription for antibiotics Can be managed with clean comb and healthy (hygienic) bees

Chalkbrood Rarely kills a colony, but can weaken it significantly Fungal pathogen Controlled with hygienic bees and new comb No real medications

Nosema Dysentery Two fungal pathogens in honey bees Treated with Fumagilin- B Thought to be a major factor in CCD

Viruses Many implicated in CCD Israeli Acute Paralysis Kashmir Bee Hairless Black Deformed Wing Black Queen Cell Acute Bee Paralysis Sacbrood Varroa destructor virus Chronic Bee Paralysis

Wax moths, wasps, and hive beetles Wax moths are major pests of stored products such as empty comb Can attack and kill weak colonies Various treatments, mostly mothballs or freezing

A little help goes a long way

Maintaining the new package Make sure the bees have food for the first two weeks (minimum) Check for egg laying or the queen every two weeks Monitor for room in the hive Add boxes as needed Monitor for pests

Treatment There are treatments for many major pests, pathogens and diseases Some simple techniques go a long way to keeping healthy bees Change comb every 5 years Bee breeding is rapidly improving stock Buy improved stock when possible

Questions?