>This work also emphasizes the importance of diet diversity and underscores
the need for further studies to test different blends of proteins and
identify protein ‘cocktails’ essential for developing normal immune
function.

The above thought is why I included a plant phytonutrient blend into one of
the test formulations.  To date, all pollen subs are clearly lacking in
something.

If you review my graph of colony development in my trial of the subs, you
will note that initial colony growth with two of the subs exceeded that of
those fed natural pollen, but then fell off noticeably.  I suspect that the
initial surge was due to the protein and perhaps other factors, but then
fell off due to lack of a critical limiting nutrient.

To me, this then presents the challenge of determining exactly what that
(or those) missing nutrient was, rather than concluding that an artificial
diet cannot be formulated.

Think about it.  How many humans nowadays consume a "natural diet" of raw
meat and organs from wild animals, nasty-tasting wild fruits and nuts, and
tough roots and leaves?  Or how about the "natural diet" of the Innuit,
which includes zero vegetation for much of the year?

I love the romantic notion of my bees obtaining their nutrition solely from
natural foraging (albeit in a habitat in which they did not naturally
evolve).  For 25 years, I practiced migratory beekeeping to do exactly
that--never feeding a drop of syrup or a grain of pollen sub.

But after varroa, and with concern about the carbon load of long-distance
trucking of hives, I now augment my bees' diet with supplements when there
is not enough quality natural forage to support them in the local
environment.  To that end, I'm seeking to find/develop artificial diets
that serve that need.

The ARS lab leader has given up on that quest (pers comm).  So I strongly
support those who continue in working to develop an off the shelf bee diet
that fully promotes bee health.


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

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