Mobilization of Lipids Underpins Honey Bee and Colony Health During Limited Supplementary Feeding

Abstract

Honey bee nutritional health depends on nectar and pollen, which provide the main source of carbohydrate, protein, and lipids to individual bees. During malnutrition the insect metabolism accesses fat body reserves, this process however, is poorly understood, as well as its repercussions at a colony level. Using untargeted lipidomic analysis we examined the effects of different nutritional conditions during larval development followed by recovery and colony productivity. Nutritional stress led to an increase of unsaturation in triacylglycerols and diacylglycerols, as well as a decrease in free fatty acids. Suggesting the bees' metabolism triggers a process that makes lipid reserves rapidly accessible by changing their structure and allowing their mobilization. We also identified the specific lipid desaturase genes in honey bees that are induced in response to starvation. Even though nutritional stress was evident in starving and sugar-fed bees at a colony and physiological level, we found that only starved hives presented long-term effects as honey production.

Склад Важких Металів І Вміст Неестерифікованих Жирних Кислот У Тканинах Бджіл Залежно Від Екологічного Стану Довкілля

“…Джерела літератури свідчать про те, що чим більша кількість жирних кислот міститься у тканинах, тим більша їхня енергетична цінність для організму медоносних бджіл (Ruedenauer et al, 2021). В енергетичному відношенні неестерифіковані форми жирних кислот для тканин медоносних бджіл є найбільш доступними (Castaños et al, 2022).…”