Journal of Apicultural Research

ISSN: 0021-8839 (Print) 2078-6913 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjar20

An evaluation of fresh versus fermented diets for

honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Amanda M. Ellis & G. W. Hayes Jr

To cite this article: Amanda M. Ellis & G. W. Hayes Jr (2009) An evaluation of fresh versus
fermented diets for honey bees (Apis mellifera), Journal of Apicultural Research, 48:3, 215-216

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.48.3.11

Published online: 02 Apr 2015.

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Download by: [George Mason University] Date: 25 February 2016, At: 23:29
 Journal of Apicultural Research and Bee World 48(3): 215-216 (2009) © IBRA 2009
DOI 10.3896/IBRA.1.48.3.11

NOTES AND COMMENTS

An evaluation of fresh versus fermented diets

for honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Amanda M. Ellis1 and G. W. Hayes, Jr1*

1
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection,
Apiary Inspection Section, 1911 SW 34th St., Gainesville, FL 32614-7100, USA.

Received 10 November 2008, accepted subject to revision 3 February 2009, accepted for publication 25 March 2009.

*Corresponding author: Email: hayesg@doacs.state.fl.us

Downloaded by [George Mason University] at 23:29 25 February 2016

Keywords: Honey bee, pollen, bee bread, pollen substitute, pollen supplement

Honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) nutrition has received considerable (2005), we mixed and stored the diets in plastic, sealed containers
attention since colony health can be influenced by poor forage placed in an incubator at 30°C for three days and then at room
availability or nutritionally poor resources (Somerville, 2005). Pollen, temperature (~23°C) for > 2 weeks. We mixed the fresh diets: 4)
as forage, provides honey bees with proteins, amino acids, lipids, “pollen”; 5) “soy”; 6) “pollen/soy”; 7) “no diet”, using the same
carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals (Gilliam, 1997). When bees mix ingredients as above, but omitting yogurt, the day before application.
pollen with nectar, regurgitated honey, or other glandular secretions, For all diets, we prepared individual patties by weighing 250 g of each
the pollen is inoculated with microorganisms (producing “bee bread”) diet and pressing it between two sheets of waxed paper. ABC
that help preserve it from deleterious microorganisms, by reducing Research Corp. (Gainesville, FL, USA) analyzed all diets, dry pollen,
the pH through fermentation. This improves the pollen’s digestibility and dry soy flour to determine pH, protein, and fat content (Table 1).
and nutritive value (Herbert and Shimanuki, 1978). Each colony received a patty of its respective diet on 4, 11, 18,
Herein, we attempted to develop a fermented diet similar to bee and 25 March. Each week, we collected and weighed any remaining
bread and to determine bee consumption of the diet. We diet to determine consumption rate. On 18 March, we assigned a
hypothesized that our product would have a pH similar to bee bread debris score to each colony based on the amount of diet debris that
and that bees would consume fermented diets at higher rates than appeared under the bottom screen of the colony. Scores ranged from
unfermented ones. We tested our diets under natural, early spring 0-3, with 0 = no debris present and 3 = high amount of debris. We
conditions (no pollen exclusion) in order to mimic conditions that used scores to determine whether bees consumed the diet or
beekeepers would experience when applying supplemental diets. shredded / removed it from the colony. In addition, on 28 February
In February 2008, we equalized adult bee populations, amount of and 15 April, we: (1) assessed colony strength by averaging
brood, and amount of honey in 49 full sized colonies on one deep and measurements taken by two observers for frames of adult bees and
one medium Langstroth boxes. We moved the colonies to a different total brood (Skinner et al., 2001); and (2) collected ~300 bees in a
location and randomly positioned them into groups of seven colonies, pre-weighed jar of isopropyl alcohol to determine bee weight.
assigning each group one of seven diet patties as described below. We analyzed final bee weight, final colony bee population, final
We used a soy based yogurt (Silk® Soy Yogurt: WhiteWave Foods cm brood, debris score, Δ bee population, and Δ cm2 brood for diet
2

Company; Broomfield, CO, USA) to inoculate our “fermented” diets effects using the general linear models procedure (GLM, SAS Institute,
with bacteria that would promote fermentation. We chose this product 2002-2003). We performed arcsine square root transformations on
because it contained multiple bacteria: Lactobacillus bulgaricus, L. the proportion of diet consumed prior to analyzing this variable. We
acidophilus, L. casei, L. rhamnosus, Streptococcus thermophilus, and report the untransformed means in Table 1. We analyzed diet
Bifidobacterium bifidum. The fermented diets were mixed as follows: consumption for diet and week effects, with interactions, using GLM.
1) “fermented pollen” = 1080 g pollen, 435 g syrup (2:1, sugar: water We tested the main effects week and diet against their interaction
mixture), 60 g yogurt; 2) “fermented soy” = 720 g soy flour, 1200 g term. We compared the diet pH values by analyzing treatment (fresh
syrup, 40 g yogurt; 3) “fermented pollen / soy” = 180 g pollen vs. fermented diets) effects using GLM. Where necessary, we
(unknown origin), 540 g soy flour (expeller processed), 1000 g syrup, compared means using Tukey’s test.
40 g yogurt. Using the fermentation process described by Somerville The pH of the fermented diets (4.69 ± 0.09 (3)) was significantly
 216 Ellis, Hayes Jr

Table 1. Diet information. The descriptive analysis (pH, total protein, and total fat) was provided by ABC Research Corp. (Gainesville, FL,
USA). Values for proportion of diet consumed and debris score are mean ± SE (n). Columnar means followed by different letters are different

at α ≤ 0.05. Means were compared using Tukey’s test. “N/A” means not applicable. *Pollen patties and soy flour patties were administered to
colonies in the diet study. Descriptive analyses were conducted on these and on dry pollen only and dry soy only, components of the patties.
Dry pollen only and dry soy only were not administered to the colonies.

Diet pH Total Protein Total Fat Proportion of Debris score

(%) (%) diet consumed
pollen patty* 5.57 11.36 5.83 1.000 ± 0.000 1.0 ± 0.0
(28) a (7) c
soy flour patty* 6.11 17.51 2.82 0.941 ± 0.022 2.8 ± 0.2
(24) bc (6) a
pollen/soy patty 5.84 16.22 4.30 0.922 ± 0.032 1.7 ± 0.2
(24) c (6) b
fermented pollen 4.82 11.41 5.30 1.000 ± 0.000 0.9 ± 0.1
patty (28) a (7) c
fermented soy 4.73 17.75 5.56 0.976 ± 0.008 1.8± 0.3
flour patty (20) abc (6) b
Downloaded by [George Mason University] at 23:29 25 February 2016

fermented pollen/ 4.51 16.85 3.99 0.982 ± 0.009 1.0 ± 0.4

soy flour patty (20) ab (5) c
no diet N/A N/A N/A N/A 1.0 ± 0.0
(6) c
dry pollen only* 5.58 16.18 8.31 N/A N/A
*
dry soy flour only 6.63 47.96 14.52 N/A N/A

lower than that of the fresh diets (5.84 ± 0.16 (3)) (F = 40.58;
Acknowledgements
df = 1, 4; P = 0.0031) (Table 1). This confirmed that fermentation
occurred. This resulted in diets with pHs similar to that of bee bread Members of FDACS Apiary Inspection Section and the University of

(3.8 – 4.3), which is lower than that of pollen (4.1 – 5.9) (Herbert and Florida Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory (HBREL)
Shimanuki, 1978). We found no significant diet effects on final bee assisted in colony set-up, colony management, diet application and

weight, final colony bee population, final cm2 brood, debris score, Δ collection, and colony evaluation. Jamie Ellis (HBREL) provided

bee population, or Δ cm2 brood (P = 0.0569 - 0.6599). comments on experimental design and the manuscript. Funding was

For the proportion of diet consumed, we found a significant diet provided by the Florida State Legislature as directed by the Florida

effect (F = 12.58; df = 5, 15; P < 0.0001), but no week (F = 0.20; Honey Bee Technical Council.

df = 3, 15; P = 0.8938) or diet × week (F = 0.46; df = 15, 144;

P = 0.9566) effect. We also found a significant diet effect on the
debris score ( F = 11.41; df = 6, 36; P < 0.0001). All pollen and
fermented pollen patties were consumed each week and their debris
scores were low (Table 1). We believe bees were consuming these
diets and not removing them from the colony. The soy only and
pollen / soy diets had the lowest consumption rates as well as the
highest debris score (Table 1). As such, the data suggest the diets
were consumed less than others and / or bees were not consuming
but rather removing it from the colony.
The data suggest that fermented diets can be made with minimal
effort. Once fermented, the product was stable and easily stored at
room temperature. We believe that by using multiple bacteria, we
improved the palatability of the fermented diets and possibly the
overall nutritional value of the product. Further field tests and
chemical analyses of the vitamin content and amino acid composition
of the diets are necessary to determine the applicability of our method SOMERVILLE, D (2005) Fat bees skinny bees - a manual on honey
to beekeepers wanting to increase the health of their bees by feeding
their colonies nutritional supplements.
References
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HERBERT, E W JR; SHIMANUKI, H (1978) Chemical composition and
nutritive value of bee collected and bee stored pollen. Apidologie
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Institute; Cary, NC, USA
SKINNER, J A; PARKMAN, J P; STUDER, M D (2001) Evaluation of
honey bee miticides, including temporal and thermal effects on
formic acid gel vapours, in the central south-eastern USA. Journal
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