Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities

Tadele Alemu Hunde

doi:doi:10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11

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Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities

Tadele Alemu Hunde

Published in Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering (Volume 10, Issue 3)

Received: 25 July 2022 Accepted: 29 August 2022 Published: 5 September 2022

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Abstract

The quality of the supplemental diet fed to honeybee colonies during dearth period influences the development and strength of the colony. The experiment was performed at Gedo sub site of Holeta Bee Research Center to examine the consumption rate and the effect of different pulses as pollen supplement for honeybee colonies on brood area, pollen and nectar storage, colony population growth as well as honey production. Selection of feed types was made based on information from home-made diets produced by locally beekeepers and preliminary screening of the flour. Honeybee colonies were provided with pollen supplement of soybean (Glycine max), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and Pea (Pisum sativum), whereas no pollen supplement was provided to the control group. Pollen supplemented fed consumption mean data showed that soybean feed was maximally consumed (284 gm) by honeybee colonies per day and followed by chickpea (252.27 gm) and pea (223.63 gm). The result indicated that the highest brood area (300.66 cm²/colony), pollen area (219.93 cm²/colony), nectar area (258.96 cm²/colony), number of frames covered with bees (9.4 per colony) as well as honey yield (11.5 kg per colony) was observed in honey bee colonies fed with soybean flour, while the least amount of brood, pollen, and nectar area, number of frames covered with bees and honey yield was detected in the control group. The results clearly demonstrated that supplementary feeding increased honeybee population for the survival of dearth period and better colony performance. Thus, the author recommend the commercial production and large scale utilization of soybean diet for the sustained reproduction and buildup of honeybee colonies during floral dearth period.

Published in	Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering (Volume 10, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11
Page(s)	54-60
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Pollen, Apis mellifera, Supplementary Feed, Pulses, Colony Performance

References

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Tadele Alemu Hunde. (2022). Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities. Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering, 10(3), 54-60. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11

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ACS Style

Tadele Alemu Hunde. Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities. Adv. BioSci. Bioeng. 2022, 10(3), 54-60. doi: 10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11

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AMA Style

Tadele Alemu Hunde. Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities. Adv BioSci Bioeng. 2022;10(3):54-60. doi: 10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11

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@article{10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11,
  author = {Tadele Alemu Hunde},
  title = {Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities},
  journal = {Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering},
  volume = {10},
  number = {3},
  pages = {54-60},
  doi = {10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.abb.20221003.11},
  abstract = {The quality of the supplemental diet fed to honeybee colonies during dearth period influences the development and strength of the colony. The experiment was performed at Gedo sub site of Holeta Bee Research Center to examine the consumption rate and the effect of different pulses as pollen supplement for honeybee colonies on brood area, pollen and nectar storage, colony population growth as well as honey production. Selection of feed types was made based on information from home-made diets produced by locally beekeepers and preliminary screening of the flour. Honeybee colonies were provided with pollen supplement of soybean (Glycine max), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and Pea (Pisum sativum), whereas no pollen supplement was provided to the control group. Pollen supplemented fed consumption mean data showed that soybean feed was maximally consumed (284 gm) by honeybee colonies per day and followed by chickpea (252.27 gm) and pea (223.63 gm). The result indicated that the highest brood area (300.66 cm2/colony), pollen area (219.93 cm2/colony), nectar area (258.96 cm2/colony), number of frames covered with bees (9.4 per colony) as well as honey yield (11.5 kg per colony) was observed in honey bee colonies fed with soybean flour, while the least amount of brood, pollen, and nectar area, number of frames covered with bees and honey yield was detected in the control group. The results clearly demonstrated that supplementary feeding increased honeybee population for the survival of dearth period and better colony performance. Thus, the author recommend the commercial production and large scale utilization of soybean diet for the sustained reproduction and buildup of honeybee colonies during floral dearth period.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities
AU  - Tadele Alemu Hunde
Y1  - 2022/09/05
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11
T2  - Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering
JF  - Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering
JO  - Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering
SP  - 54
EP  - 60
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-4162
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11
AB  - The quality of the supplemental diet fed to honeybee colonies during dearth period influences the development and strength of the colony. The experiment was performed at Gedo sub site of Holeta Bee Research Center to examine the consumption rate and the effect of different pulses as pollen supplement for honeybee colonies on brood area, pollen and nectar storage, colony population growth as well as honey production. Selection of feed types was made based on information from home-made diets produced by locally beekeepers and preliminary screening of the flour. Honeybee colonies were provided with pollen supplement of soybean (Glycine max), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and Pea (Pisum sativum), whereas no pollen supplement was provided to the control group. Pollen supplemented fed consumption mean data showed that soybean feed was maximally consumed (284 gm) by honeybee colonies per day and followed by chickpea (252.27 gm) and pea (223.63 gm). The result indicated that the highest brood area (300.66 cm2/colony), pollen area (219.93 cm2/colony), nectar area (258.96 cm2/colony), number of frames covered with bees (9.4 per colony) as well as honey yield (11.5 kg per colony) was observed in honey bee colonies fed with soybean flour, while the least amount of brood, pollen, and nectar area, number of frames covered with bees and honey yield was detected in the control group. The results clearly demonstrated that supplementary feeding increased honeybee population for the survival of dearth period and better colony performance. Thus, the author recommend the commercial production and large scale utilization of soybean diet for the sustained reproduction and buildup of honeybee colonies during floral dearth period.
VL  - 10
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Tadele Alemu Hunde

Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Holeta Bee Research Center, Holeta, Ethiopia

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Tadele Alemu Hunde. (2022). Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities. Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering, 10(3), 54-60. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11

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ACS Style

Tadele Alemu Hunde. Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities. Adv. BioSci. Bioeng. 2022, 10(3), 54-60. doi: 10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11

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AMA Style

Tadele Alemu Hunde. Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities. Adv BioSci Bioeng. 2022;10(3):54-60. doi: 10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11

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@article{10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11,
  author = {Tadele Alemu Hunde},
  title = {Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities},
  journal = {Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering},
  volume = {10},
  number = {3},
  pages = {54-60},
  doi = {10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.abb.20221003.11},
  abstract = {The quality of the supplemental diet fed to honeybee colonies during dearth period influences the development and strength of the colony. The experiment was performed at Gedo sub site of Holeta Bee Research Center to examine the consumption rate and the effect of different pulses as pollen supplement for honeybee colonies on brood area, pollen and nectar storage, colony population growth as well as honey production. Selection of feed types was made based on information from home-made diets produced by locally beekeepers and preliminary screening of the flour. Honeybee colonies were provided with pollen supplement of soybean (Glycine max), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and Pea (Pisum sativum), whereas no pollen supplement was provided to the control group. Pollen supplemented fed consumption mean data showed that soybean feed was maximally consumed (284 gm) by honeybee colonies per day and followed by chickpea (252.27 gm) and pea (223.63 gm). The result indicated that the highest brood area (300.66 cm2/colony), pollen area (219.93 cm2/colony), nectar area (258.96 cm2/colony), number of frames covered with bees (9.4 per colony) as well as honey yield (11.5 kg per colony) was observed in honey bee colonies fed with soybean flour, while the least amount of brood, pollen, and nectar area, number of frames covered with bees and honey yield was detected in the control group. The results clearly demonstrated that supplementary feeding increased honeybee population for the survival of dearth period and better colony performance. Thus, the author recommend the commercial production and large scale utilization of soybean diet for the sustained reproduction and buildup of honeybee colonies during floral dearth period.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Evaluation of Pollen Supplementary Diets for Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Colonies and Their Effects on Some Biological Activities
AU  - Tadele Alemu Hunde
Y1  - 2022/09/05
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11
T2  - Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering
JF  - Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering
JO  - Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering
SP  - 54
EP  - 60
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-4162
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.abb.20221003.11
AB  - The quality of the supplemental diet fed to honeybee colonies during dearth period influences the development and strength of the colony. The experiment was performed at Gedo sub site of Holeta Bee Research Center to examine the consumption rate and the effect of different pulses as pollen supplement for honeybee colonies on brood area, pollen and nectar storage, colony population growth as well as honey production. Selection of feed types was made based on information from home-made diets produced by locally beekeepers and preliminary screening of the flour. Honeybee colonies were provided with pollen supplement of soybean (Glycine max), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and Pea (Pisum sativum), whereas no pollen supplement was provided to the control group. Pollen supplemented fed consumption mean data showed that soybean feed was maximally consumed (284 gm) by honeybee colonies per day and followed by chickpea (252.27 gm) and pea (223.63 gm). The result indicated that the highest brood area (300.66 cm2/colony), pollen area (219.93 cm2/colony), nectar area (258.96 cm2/colony), number of frames covered with bees (9.4 per colony) as well as honey yield (11.5 kg per colony) was observed in honey bee colonies fed with soybean flour, while the least amount of brood, pollen, and nectar area, number of frames covered with bees and honey yield was detected in the control group. The results clearly demonstrated that supplementary feeding increased honeybee population for the survival of dearth period and better colony performance. Thus, the author recommend the commercial production and large scale utilization of soybean diet for the sustained reproduction and buildup of honeybee colonies during floral dearth period.
VL  - 10
IS  - 3
ER  -

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