Recent honey bee colony losses reintroduced
nutrition as a focus of research as it
was speculated that poor nutrition may be
a crucial or subtle (co-) factor in the occurrence
of such losses. 

Last year, vanEngelsdorp et al. (2009)
demonstrated that workers from colonies affected
by CCD showed no alteration in protein
nutritional state.

Balanced nutrition
is best supported by growing a diversity
of plants, even near agricultural areas, as a
natural mixture of different pollens is the optimal
source of proteins and vitamins for honey bees. 

Where this is
not possible, feeding adequate supplemental
diets is recommended, even if they are of
poorer quality than natural pollen, because the
diets can provide many essential nutrients. 

To our knowledge there are no reports that diets
prepared meeting the criteria presented in this
review harm the bees, although the inferiority
of bees or colonies fed exclusively on artificial
diets compared to those fed natural pollen has
been demonstrated.

Nutrition and health in honey bees
Robert Brodschneider, Karl Crailsheim
Apidologie 41 (2010) 278–294
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