Comparative Study of the Effect of Pollen Substitute Diets on Honey Bees during Early Spring

Simple Summary Recently, there has been a serious decline in honey bee colonies due to various factors, including habitat loss, diseases, pathogen infections, chemical exposures, and climatic changes. Among these factors, malnutrition-induced stress plays a significant role in colony decline. In our study, we present a novel perspective on maintaining and developing honey bee colonies. Our research demonstrates that a specific pollen substitute diet significantly improves colony performance during early spring, as evidenced by an increase in population, a greater capped brood area, altered colony weight, honey bee weight (dried head + thorax), and vitellogenin value. This finding could contribute to enhanced colony maintenance and development during the early spring season, with the potential to prevent colony decline.Abstract The nutritional quality of a colony significantly affects its health and strength, particularly because it is required for population growth in the early spring. We investigated the impact of various artificial pollen substitute diets on colony performance in the Republic of Korea during early spring, a critical period for colony health and growth. The colonies were provided with different diets, including the commercial product Megabee (positive control), our developed diet Test A, and four upgraded versions (Diet 1, Diet 2, Diet 3, and Diet 4) of Test A. The negative control group received no supplementary feed. Over 63 days, we observed 24 experimental colonies and assessed various parameters at the colony and individual levels. The results revealed that Diet 2 had the highest consumption and had the most positive impact on population growth, the capped brood area, colony weight, honey bees' weight, and vitellogenin levels. These findings suggested that Diet 2 is most attractive to honey bees and thus holds great promise for improving colony maintenance and development during the crucial early spring period.