Bee Nutrition Archives - Scientific Beekeeping https://scientificbeekeeping.com/bee-nutrition/ Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist Sun, 07 Apr 2024 14:26:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Observations on Pollen Subs: Part 4- Nectar, Water, and Humidity https://scientificbeekeeping.com/observations-on-pollen-subs-part-4-nectar-water-and-humidity/ Tue, 15 Mar 2022 22:53:13 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7632 Observations on Pollen Subs:  Part 4 Nectar, Water, and Humidity First published in ABJ January 2022 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com   Last month I pointed out that there is something about even a light natural pollen flow that seems to increase a colony’s response to fed pollen sub. But a light pollen flow is often also […]

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]]> A Comparative Trial of the Pollen Subs: Part 6- Do We Need to Revise De Groot? https://scientificbeekeeping.com/a-comparative-trial-of-the-pollen-subs-part-6-do-we-need-to-revise-de-groot/ Sat, 12 Feb 2022 23:15:53 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7598 A COMPARATIVE TRIAL OF THE POLLEN SUBS Part 6: DO WE NEED TO REVISE DE GROOT? Beekeeper-Funded Research First Published in ABJ December 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Bee nutritionists have long cited the essential amino acid ratios suggested by de Groot in 1953. But he himself pointed out the shortcomings of his methods and qualified […]

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]]> A Comparative Trial of the Pollen Subs: Part 5– Revisiting de Groot https://scientificbeekeeping.com/a-comparative-trial-of-the-pollen-subs-part-5-revisiting-de-groot/ Mon, 10 Jan 2022 23:44:55 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7561    Contents Diving into de groot Understanding what De Groot did The problem with normalizing to tryptophan Re-interpreting de groot’s findings Protein conversion — Patty into bees Justus von Liebig’s Law of the Minimum and essential amino acids My diet calculator So how about the tested diets? The homebrew formulation Not yet done … References […]

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]]> Where does fed pollen sub go? https://scientificbeekeeping.com/where-does-fed-pollen-sub-go/ Mon, 18 Oct 2021 21:03:58 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7419 I gave this presentation at the Calif State Beekeepers Convention in 2013. 2013 Where does fed pollen patty pdf  

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]]> de Groot 1953 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/de-groot-1953/ Wed, 13 Oct 2021 13:48:46 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7411 Thanks to Google for scanning this pioneering and widely-cited study.  Since this study is monumentally important to understanding honey bee nutritional requirements, I’ve unsuccessfully attempted to track down any copyright holder for permission to share it.  But as I understand copyright law, since this reprint does not contain any indication of this pre-1978 publication being […]

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]]> Observations on Pollen Subs https://scientificbeekeeping.com/observations-on-pollen-subs/ Sun, 26 Sep 2021 20:25:59 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7372 Observations on Pollen Subs Part 1 First published in ABJ July 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com I get a lot of questions about what the bees do with pollen subs, why, when, and how to feed them, or even if it’s worth the effort. Since I’ve done a goodly amount of investigation on this subject, allow […]

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]]> A Comparative Trial of the Pollen Subs 2020: Part 1 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/a-comparative-trial-of-the-pollen-subs-2020-part-1/ Sun, 26 Sep 2021 20:19:20 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7357 A COMPARATIVE TRIAL OF THE POLLEN SUBS 2020 Part 1 Beekeeper-Funded Research First published in ABJ July 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com California has been in a “mega-drought” for a decade. In many areas, there is not enough natural forage in late summer for building colonies back up to cluster sizes large enough to supply strong […]

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]]> A Field Trial of Probiotics https://scientificbeekeeping.com/a-field-trial-of-probiotics/ Fri, 03 Sep 2021 06:06:36 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7310 A Field Trial of Probiotics Beekeeper-Funded Research First published in ABJ May 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com   In recent years, we’ve learned that the honey bee gut hosts a microbiome consisting of several core groups of bacteria (Figure 1), which if disrupted, may have detrimental effects upon bee health [[1]].   Many beekeepers, in the hope […]

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]]> An Experiment to Improve Pollen Sub: Part 2 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/an-experiment-to-improve-pollen-sub-part-2/ Sun, 02 Aug 2020 22:57:03 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=6526 Beekeeper-Funded Research An Experiment to Improve Pollen Sub: Part 2 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ May 2020   In my last article I laid out the reason that I ran this experiment, and my two suspects for being the limiting nutrient in the artificial diet – the lack of an important sterol and/or a […]

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]]> An Experiment to Improve Pollen Sub: Part 1 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/an-experiment-to-improve-pollen-sub-1/ Sun, 02 Aug 2020 21:43:17 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=6517 Beekeeper-Funded Research An Experiment to Improve Pollen Sub: Part 1 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ April 2020   In my location, we may not see a drop of rain all summer long, so our colonies become pollen-starved. In order to prepare strong colonies for almond pollination, I used to move them to better forage […]

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