Research findings might equip beekeepers with valuable insights, enabling them to provide essential dietary supplements
A section of researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife Research is seeking insights into the impact of pollen diversity on the nutritional quality of honeybee diets. They will also examine how bees regulate the collection and consumption of pollen.
“Our research focuses on understanding how honeybees choose the best possible combinations of nutrients when given choices between different food resources,” said Juliana Rangel, professor in the department of entomology at the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Rangel and her colleague Spencer Behmer will particularly analyse bees’ preferences for pollen, their primary source of dietary protein, as well as lipids and other vital micronutrients.
“Honeybees balance their protein-lipid intake, ensuring they do not overconsume either nutrient beyond what is required,” Rangel said. This balanced approach ultimately contributes to their overall health and well-being, she added.
Inadequate nutrition and landscape transformations are two significant contributors to the decline of over 40 per cent of managed honeybees in the United States annually, according to the Bee Informed Partnership, a nonprofit focusing on honey bee health.
The definition of poor nutrition here, however, remains unclear, said Behmer. Nutritional deficits can have adverse cascading impacts on bees and colonies.
Brood food, a milky fluid produced by nurse bees to feed bee larvae, is where much of the damage of poor nutrition begins. Deficiencies in important nutritional components in brood food, particularly protein and critical lipids, can result in poor physiological development, resulting in undersized adults, deformities and immune system damage, he added.
The researchers said their preliminary analysis suggested that honeybees tightly regulate their protein and lipid intake, and the fatty acid composition of lipids could play an essential role in the bees’ nutritional choices.
Also read: To protect India’s bees, we need to understand their impact on agricultural practices
The researchers’ primary hypothesis is: Honeybees tightly control their multiple nutrient intake using a two-level process.
First, foragers judiciously gather pollen based on its nutritional content. Next, nurse bees selectively feed on accumulated pollen, or bee bread, to balance their nutrient intake. This optimises the brood food they produce for larvae.
Rangel and Behmer believe pollen nutritional content varies across landscapes and seasons and foragers and nurse bees can recognise the variety and respond appropriately.
In order to prove their hypothesis, the researchers will run a holistic nutrient analysis of pollen, scrutinising the nutritional space available to honeybees across three different landscapes — agricultural, urban and rural. They will also consider seasonal variations.
Moreover, they will carry out a multidimensional nutrient analysis of bee bread to gain insights into the role of pre-digestive pollen processing. This will show how nutritional inputs vary as pollen is turned into bee bread.
Lastly, the analysis will characterise the link between the fatty acid composition of bee bread, nurse bee feeding behaviour and physiology, and the overall performance of the colony.
The findings of the research will equip beekeepers with valuable insights, enabling them to provide essential dietary supplements and improve the health of their colonies.
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