In pursuit of the ultimate pollen substitute (insect larvae) for honey bee (
            <i>Apis mellifera</i>
            ) feed

Pavlović, Ratko; Dojnov, Biljana; Slavić, Marinela Šokarda; Pavlović, Milorad; Slomo, Katarina; Ristović, Marina; Vujčić, Zoran

doi:10.1080/00218839.2022.2080950

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…In addition to acting as resource cues, the ingestion of fungi or fungal metabolites can also affect individual bee and colony performance, though these effects differ by fungal and bee species. Inactivated yeasts (most commonly Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) are common additives in artificial diets provided to social bee colonies, in some cases providing modest growth benefits over natural pollen diets (Fernandes-da-Silva and Zucoloto 1990 , Dodologlu and Emsen 2011 , van der Steen 2015 , Pavlović et al 2022 ), though not always (Costa and Venturieri 2015 , de Freitas et al 2020 ). There is little evidence that these artificial diets have any impact on bee immunity and pathogen infection (Moliné et al 2020 , Canché-Collí et al 2021 , Hsu et al 2021 ), though in one case yeast diets reduced Nosema spp.…”

Section: Functions Of Bee-associated Fungimentioning

confidence: 99%

Bees just wanna have fungi: a review of bee associations with nonpathogenic fungi

Rutkowski

Weston

Vannette

2023

FEMS Microbiology Ecology

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Bee-fungus associations are common, and while most studies of these focus on entomopathogens, emerging evidence suggests that bees associate with a variety of symbiotic fungi that can influence bee behavior and health. Here, we review non-pathogenic fungal taxa associated with different bee species and bee-related habitats. We synthesize results of studies examining fungal effects on bee behavior, development, survival, and fitness. We find that fungal communities differ across habitats, with some groups restricted mostly to flowers (Metschnikowia), while others are present almost exclusively in stored provisions (Zygosaccharomyces). Starmerella yeasts are found in multiple habitats in association with many bee species. Bee species differ widely in the abundance and identity of fungi hosted. Functional studies suggest that yeasts affect bee foraging, development, and pathogen interactions, though few bee and fungal taxa have been examined in this context. Rarely, fungi are obligately beneficial symbionts of bees, whereas most are facultative bee associates with unknown or ecologically contextual effects. Fungicides can reduce fungal abundance and alter fungal communities associated with bees, potentially disrupting bee-fungi associations. We recommend that future study focus on fungi associated with non-honeybee species and examine multiple bee life stages to document fungal composition, abundance, and mechanistic effects on bees.

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Section: Functions Of Bee-associated Fungimentioning

confidence: 99%

Bees just wanna have fungi: a review of bee associations with nonpathogenic fungi

Rutkowski

Weston

Vannette

2023

FEMS Microbiology Ecology

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“…Earlier studies concluded that the composition of the food is more important than the amount of food con- This could indicate that the larvae from infected hives consumed a more uniform diet that is rich in macroelements, but lacking in microelements, compared to larvae from healthy hives, where the larvae are fed based on diverse food sources. Earlier studies concluded that the composition of the food is more important than the amount of food consumed [35]. It could be that honey bees from the infected hives either collected less pollen or the pollen collected was of a lower diversity.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micronutrient Deficiency May Be Associated with the Onset of Chalkbrood Disease in Honey Bees

Pavlović,

Brodschneider,

Goessler

et al. 2024

Insects

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Chalkbrood is a disease of honey bee brood caused by the fungal parasite Ascosphaera apis. Many factors such as genetics, temperature, humidity and nutrition influence the appearance of clinical symptoms. Poor nutrition impairs the immune system, which favors the manifestation of symptoms of many honey bee diseases. However, a direct link between dietary ingredients and the symptoms of chalkbrood disease has not yet been established. We show here that the elemental composition of chalkbrood mummies and healthy larvae from the same infected hives differ, as well as that mummies differ from larvae from healthy hives. Chalkbrood mummies had the highest concentration of macroelements such as Na, Mg, P, S, K and Ca and some microelements such as Rb and Sn, and at the same time the lowest concentration of B, As, Sr, Ag, Cd, Sb, Ba and Pb. Larvae from infected hives contained less Pb, Ba, Cs, Sb, Cd, Sr, As, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Mn, Cr, V and Al in contrast to healthy larvae from a disease-free apiary. This is the first study to demonstrate such differences, suggesting that an infection alters the larval nutrition or that nutrition is a predisposition for the outbreak of a chalkbrood infection. Though, based on results obtained from a case study, rather than from a controlled experiment, our findings stress the differences in elements of healthy versus diseased honey bee larvae.

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“…We had to develop a new method of keeping bees in vitro for flight experiments, as previous trials of flight experiments with caged honey bees failed (R. Brodschneider, unpublished data). Because healthy bees do neither defecate in their nest, nor in a cage (see Pavlović et al, 2022), the ventriculus (midgut) and rectum of caged bees are densely filled with undigested pollen, water, and feces. The pressure of the well-stocked intestine on the tracheal system (including collapsible air sacs) hinders optimal oxygen delivery and hence flight.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Slight drawbacks in flight of honey bees in freeflying environments could be more dramatic, as bees may fail in returning to the colony after unsuccessful attempts (Harrison et al, 2001). Pollen substitutes optimized for the bees' needs could partly support their thorax development when there is insufficient or only nutritionally deficient pollen available in the environment (Pavlović et al, 2022;Ricigliano et al, 2022). In our experiment we established a very drastic all-or-nothing situation regarding pollen availability of the two experimental groups.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Flight performance of pollen starved honey bees and incomplete compensation through ingestion after early life pollen deprivation

Brodschneider

Omar

2022

Front. Physiol.

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We investigated the effect of adult honey bee pollen nutrition on the flight performance of honey bees. Therefore, caged bees were allowed to perform 30 min of defecation/training flights every second day before flight performance of pollen-fed bees and pollen-deprived bees older than 16 days were compared in a flight mill. We first fed 10 µL of 1 M glucose solution to bees, and after they metabolized this during flight, they were fed 10 µL of 2 M glucose solution for a second flight test. Pollen-deprived bees flew longer and further than pollen-fed bees in both flights. Pollen-fed bees flew faster in the early period at the beginning of flights, whereas pollen-deprived bees were faster in the final phases. Pollen-fed bees were able to raise their maximum flight speed in 2 M glucose solution flights, whereas pollen-constraint bees were not. The two groups did not differ in abdomen fresh weight, but the fresh weight of the head and thorax and dry weight of the head, thorax and abdomen were higher in pollen-fed bees. In a second experiment, we constrained pollen consumption of caged bees during the first 7 days and compared daily consumption of bees from day 8–16 to consumption of bees unrestricted in pollen. We found that pollen-deprived bees perceive the pollen shortage and try to compensate for their needs by consuming significantly more pollen at the later phase of their life than pollen-fed bees of the same age. Still, bees constrained from pollen in the first 7 days did only reach 51.1% of the lifetime consumption of unconstrained bees. This shows that bees can sense the need for essential nutrients from pollen, but their physiological apparatus does not allow them to fully compensate for their early life constraint. Pollen deprivation only in the first 7 days of worker life likewise significantly reduced fresh and dry weights of the body sections (head, thorax, and abdomen) and survival. This underlines the importance of protein consumption in a short critical period early in adult bees’ lives for their development and their performance later in life.

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In pursuit of the ultimate pollen substitute (insect larvae) for honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) feed

Cited by 4 publications

References 54 publications

Bees just wanna have fungi: a review of bee associations with nonpathogenic fungi

Bees just wanna have fungi: a review of bee associations with nonpathogenic fungi

Micronutrient Deficiency May Be Associated with the Onset of Chalkbrood Disease in Honey Bees

Flight performance of pollen starved honey bees and incomplete compensation through ingestion after early life pollen deprivation

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