a Mr Smart snip...
'In my study I was looking at the background nutritional stores and immune responses of honey bee colonies positioned in agricultural landscapes surrounded by varying "quality" forage (area of land with flowers usable by bees basically).  Bees from colonies at the best site (most land with forage) had higher fall nutritional stores and a decreased immune response compared to the worst site which had lower nutritional stores and an increased immune response.  Significantly more colonies survived at the best compared to the worst site.  What I think could be happening is a trade off occurring between the nutritional and immune systems for the limited resources in the body of the bees, which is ultimately influencing survival or death of colonies.'

ET Replies...
This is a project which I definitely think has merit.  Not so long ago after reading 'fat bee, skinny bee' and then reflecting on my own experience in trying to rear bees (pre varroa) in a landscape with poor nutrition in terms of pollen content (in the heart of a vast pine forest) I have often wondered if a lot of problems associated with keeping bees healthy may in fact be largely nutritional.  We have seen similar issues in regards to cattle and forage quality although these identified problems are largely about crude protein content (generally not specific amino acid) and essential micro nutrients (which as a rule get mined out of the soil after decades of repeated use).

Good luck on your project...  

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