Consumption and Brood Rearing by Caged Honeybees Fed Pollen Substitutes Fortified with Various Sugars

Abstract

SummaryNucleus colonies established with newly emerged honeybees reared brood for 10 weeks when fed Wheast, Yeaco, or Amber as their sole protein source. Bees fed whey as their protein source consumed little of it and reared less than 1000 cm2 of brood to the sealed stage. Studies on caged bees showed that the lactose in the whey diets may have caused excessive adult mortality. Yeaco and Amber diets formulated with sucrose were consumed in greater amounts by the colonies than formulations containing other sugars.