Richard> If anyone has determined which bees add the proteins I have not seen the reference.  It could be field bees or the bees that concentrate the nectar brought back to the hive or both.
  

From Crailshiem's work (1988), and Hausemann 2005, it's stated that only monosaccharides can pass through the midgut into the bee's hemolymph.  So, since any bee can digest sucrose they must all have the capability to add the enzyme - even queens. Although, it makes some sense that nectar packers must be doing the heavy lifting of inversion. But according to Simpson et al. 1968, the hypopharyngeal glands of winter bees produce the most invertase which seems to be counterintuitive since their food source, winter honey, is already inverted.  As mentioned in an earlier post, maybe that's why the studies that compared survival, wax production, and brood stimulation found the bees did better on sucrose.    


>Intestinal transport of sugars in the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.)
K Crailsheim - Journal of insect physiology, 1988 - Elsevier

>Invertase in the Hypopharyngeal Glands of the Honeybee
J. Simpson, Inge B. M. Riedel & N. Wilding


Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT     

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