Hello Mike and Juanse

We start working around this:

Nutritional and prebiotic efficacy of the microalga Arthrospira 
platensis (spirulina) in honey bees
Vincent A. RICIGLIANO, Michael SIMONE-FINSTROM
USDA ARS, Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research, Baton 
Rouge, LA 70820, USA

Abstract – We evaluated the microalga Arthrospira platensis (commonly 
called spirulina), as a pollen substitute
for honey bees. Nutritional analyses indicated that spirulina is rich in 
essential amino acids and a wide variety of
functional lipids (i.e., phospholipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and 
sterols) common in pollen. Feeding bioassays
were used to compare dry and fresh laboratory-grown spirulina with 
bee-collected pollen and a commercial pollen
substitute using sucrose syrup as a control. Diets were fed ad libitum 
as a paste to newly emerged bees in cages (10–
13 cage replicates) and bees were sampled at days 5 and 10 for 
physiological andmolecularmeasurements. Spirulina
diets produced biomarker profiles (thorax weight, head protein content, 
and beneficial gut bacteria abundance) that
were indicative of elevated nutritional states, meeting or exceeding the 
other diets in some metrics despite reduced
consumption. Furthermore, spirulina diets led to significantly increased 
fat body lipid content and mRNA levels of
the central storage lipoprotein vitellogenin.We conclude that spirulina 
has significant potential as a pollen substitute
or prebiotic diet additive to improve honey bee health.

Apis mellifera / nutrition /microbiota /microalgae / pollen substitute

Apidologie Original article
DOI: 10.1007/s13592-020-00770-5


regards
Fernando
Córdoba, Arg.

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