>
> >there is plenty of evidence that dietary intake influences longevity and
> survival. Bees going into winter must restrict their consumption of amino
> acids if they are to survive the long haul
>

Pete, I cannot agree with the interpretation above.  The results of the
Paoli study did not apply to diutinus bees going into winter.

The emerging workers that will become diutinus bees need to consume a large
amount of pollen in order to store as much vitellogenin, lipophorin, and
arylphorin* as possible in their bodies (roughly 2-3% of their dry mass).
In addition, when I've done gut squashes, those winter bees' guts are
packed full of pollen.

It appears to be those stored proteins that allow diuntinus bees to survive
for hundreds of days in the absence of fresh incoming pollen.  Diutinus
bees have ready access to low-aa honey as a carbohydrate source.

In the Paoli study, the test bees were not diutinus bees, nor were they
given free choice in their dietary balancing.  Given free choice, bees
choose how much protein to consume relative to how much carbohydrate from
nectar or pollen.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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