Novel Artificial Diet Formulations on Colony Strength of Apis mellifera during Floral Dearth in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Several protein-rich dietary items, including defatted soy flour, parched gram, brewer's yeast, sucrose, skimmed milk powder, natural pollen and sugar, glucose, honey, Vitamin B, and Vitamin C, were combined to create eight diet formulations. These diets were administered to colonies of Apis mellifera at the Honey Bee Research and Training Centre in Pantnagar, during a time of dearth in the rainy season. The quantification of food consumption by bees was conducted at regular intervals of 5 days. The most favourable outcomes were achieved with a dietary composition consisting of Soya Bari flour, Pollen, Skimmed milk powder, Honey, and Dry yeast, with an average intake of 65.98 g per colony, sealed brood (3374.56 cm2 per colony) and maximum bee population (15329 bees per colony) in dry form of diet while in patty form of the same composition maximum consumption of (34.06 gm per colony), sealed brood (3114.42 cm2 per colony) and maximum bee population of(14278.92 bees per colony) was observed. The colonies consumed prepared diet in July and August, a period that lacked natural pollen. The study demonstrates a link between protein source quality and the physiological well-being of honey bees. These findings suggest that strategic nutritional supplementation is a critical variable in successful colony management and population expansion.