Abstract
Inadequate quantity and quality of proteins in honey bee diet can cause weakening of their colonies and damage their resistance to agrochemical contamination, such as fipronil, which is highly toxic to bees. Thus, we tested the hypothesis if protein supplementation would improve longevity and locomotion of honeybees exposed to fipronil pesticide. Colonies of Apis mellifera Africanized were distributed into Control Group without protein supplementation and Supplemented Group with 25% crude protein provided as a paste form at 100 g per week. After four weeks, frames with sealed brood were removed and kept in an incubator until the emergence of worker bees, which were marked, returned to their hives and recaptured six days later to measure protein concentration in the hemolymph. The bee population development was measured by evaluating frames containing the queen’s oviposition from each colony. Also, nursing bees were recaptured exposed by contact to fipronil LD50% (0.009 ± 0.003 μg/bee), and the longevity and motor activity were measured. The results showed that the bee swarms protein supplementation promoted a significant increase in the sealed brood area. However, it did not promote changes in the protein content of the hemolymph. Protein supplementation of bee swarms did not influence the survival of bees exposed to fipronil in the locomotion tests; however, fipronil was toxic to bees and promoted changes in the locomotion of bees.
Highlights
Despite the importance of Apis bees, there has been a worldwide decline in the populations of these insects in recent years
We tested the hypothesis if protein supplementation would improve longevity and locomotion of honeybees exposed to fipronil pesticide
The results showed that the bee swarms protein supplementation promoted a significant increase in the sealed brood area
Summary
Despite the importance of Apis bees, there has been a worldwide decline in the populations of these insects in recent years Such decline is attributed to climatic factors, use of agrochemicals, diseases, parasites, and habitat and food (e.g. nectar and pollen) reduction, all of which directly impair the maintenance of colonies (Goulson et al, 2015; Wood et al, 2020). When bees collect resources (i.e., nectar and/or pollen) that contain high doses of agrochemicals, acute contamination of bees can occur, which causes their mortality over a short period. When applied in low doses, considered sublethal, it is often transported to the colony by the bees together with the collected resources, which may compromise the viability of breeding and the maintenance of colonies (Villa et al, 2000; Long & Krupke, 2016). The contamination of colonies by agrochemicals reduces the longevity (Colin et al, 2004; Pettis et al, 2004; Desneux et al, 2007) and affects the vitality of the colony (Belien et al, 2009), amongst other behavioral and physiological changes that impair its survival (Holdera et al, 2018)
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