Influence of the Quality of Protein in Pollens and of a Pollen Substitute on the Development of the Hypopharyngeal Glands of Honey Bees1,2,3

Abstract

Numerous scientific investigators have shown that the protein in different kinds of pollens varies widely in quality, quantity, and food value for honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Todd and Bretherick 1942; Lunden 1956; Standifer 1966, 1967). However, apiculturists and other entomologists engaged in studies of insect nutrition frequently disregard these findings and incorporate pollens of unknown source and chemical composition (see references cited in Standifer et al. 1960, Standifer 1967) into experimental diets. The present investigation was made at the Honey Bee Pollination Investigations Laboratory at Tucson, Ariz., to determine the effect of equal amounts of 2 chemically different pollens and of a pollen substitute diet on the growth of nurse honey bees as indicated by the morphological development of the hypopharyngeal glands.