> > >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 *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html