The macronutrient regulation of adult worker honeybees

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World agriculture relies on pollinators for the production of soft fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. In large scale agriculture such as almond orchards in California, pollination services are primarily accomplished by honeybee colonies that are transported to orchards and fields by the millions during flowering. Commercial beekeepers are paid for each colony they bring to a field site. Prior to flowering, these colonies may not have access to much pollen, which means it is difficult to build up the colony's size and strengthen health. To overcome pollen dearth, beekeepers in the past 30 years have started to use bee feeds made from grains like soya beans: products that are inexpensive and easy to obtain. The base products are purchased from beekeeping suppliers, mixed with sugar solutions (e.g. high fructose corn syrup) in the field, and then provided to the bees as a patty or a liquid food within the colony. Beekeepers sometimes make and mix their own formulations. A major problem with these feeds is the fact that they do not provide essential nutrients (e.g. correct fatty acids and sterols). These base materials (e.g. soy) are also difficult for bees to digest and have been reported to cause dysentery. They are also not formulated in a way that optimizes combinations of macronutrients for honeybees. In fact, to make these substances palatable to bees, beekeepers add ~5-20% honeybee collected pollen to the mix, but this is very expensive and has the potential to spread disease and expose bees to pesticides.

Our proposed research will have a large impact on the beekeeping industry and agriculture. At present, there is a pressing need in the commercial beekeeping industry for bee foods that are substitutes for pollen. To obtain natural forage for their bees, beekeepers also transport their colonies to places where forage is available. This is expensive and stressful for bees. Having a substitute for pollen that did not require the addition of bee collected pollen would reduce the need to transport bees to forage and reduce risk associated with exposure to pathogens from bee collected pollen. Native bees compete with honeybees for access to natural pollen and nectar; a pollen substitute for honeybees would also reduce competition for floral resources in natural habitats and improve wild bee populations.
Presenting our research at international beekeeping conferences and local meetings, we have realized that beekeepers worldwide are very keen to find a way to improve the nutrition of their colonies. This need motivated us to focus our nutrition work towards the goal of producing food that could be used when pollen was unavailable. The research described in our proposal will provide the following: 1) specific information about the nutritional needs of honeybees; 2) information about raw materials that can be used as food in bee colonies; 3) insight into nutrient balancing by social insects, especially for proteins, fats, and sterols. As part of our impact plan, we will begin the process of commercialization of the information we obtain here by applying for BBSRC Follow on Funding and starting a spin-out company that will develop and orchestrate the production of bee feeds. The research described in this proposal will guide our potential future commercialization of this information. The data we produce from this work will also be published in scientific journals and interpreted and made available to beekeepers via a website managed in association with the British Beekeeping Association. This information will permit beekeepers to improve upon their methods of feeding and will improve pollination services for agricultural crops worldwide.