A lot of effort has been spent trying to make good feed supplements for bees. However, recent work shows that the health of bee colonies may depend on variety of floral sources more than sheer quantity of protein. 


QUOTE:

> We tested in honeybees (Apis mellifera) whether dietary protein quantity (monofloral pollen) and diet diversity (polyfloral pollen) can shape baseline immunocompetence (IC) by measuring parameters of individual immunity (haemocyte concentration, fat body content and phenoloxidase activity) and glucose oxidase (GOX) activity, which enables bees to sterilize colony and brood food, as a parameter of social immunity. 

> Protein feeding modified both individual and social IC but increases in dietary protein quantity did not enhance IC. However, diet diversity increased IC levels. In particular, polyfloral diets induced higher GOX activity compared with monofloral diets, including protein-richer diets. These results suggest a link between protein nutrition and immunity in honeybees and underscore the critical role of resource availability on pollinator health.

Cedric Alaux, Francois Ducloz, Didier Crauser and Yves Le Conte. Diet effects on honeybee immunocompetence. 2010. Biology Letters 

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