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> > Bee fat body protein levels increased with consumption of pollen
>
> G Kleinschmidt (Australia) did work on this. Initiated, I think,
> trying to understand why some Aussie colonies would 'collapse'
> before/during a flow. He monitored the protein levels to determine
> that for a colony to have sustainability, it needed high grade
> pollens X weeks before the anticipated flow...
Graham Kleinschmidt has many papers on nutrition of honey bees. One titled "The Effect of Dietary Protein on Colony Performance" has as its summary:-
"The level of body protein varied between 21% and 67% and was closely related to colony requirements.
Under heavy honeyflow conditions, bees in colonies with a rapid decrease in body protein lived 20-26 days whereas in colonies which maintained body protein above 40% bees had a lifespan of 46-50 days. Colony reproduction did not completely compensate for deaths when longevity was short, whereas increased longevity allowed colonies to maintain large populations during a twelve week honey flow.
Management should be designed to reduce extreme fluctuations in body protein and to maintain it above 40% whenever possible."
I should also shortly put down my take home messages from Apimondia. There are many and will vary greatly from those people from North America. I was sorry that I did not get to the Bee-L meeting till it was almost over but I was attending a presentation on "Cryopreservation of honey bee embryos".
Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA
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