Differences in nutritional profiles of pollen stored by African and European honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) and the effects on worker bees

Nutrition is the foundation of health in all organisms. The nutrients that can be obtained from food depend on what is consumed and how well it is digested. Honey bees consume only nectar and pollen. Nectar provides carbohydrates and pollen supplies protein, lipids, vitamins and minerals. Bees feed on some pollen that is freshly collected but it is difficult to digest. To increase the acquisition of nutrients from pollen, bees store it in cells and inoculate it with microbes that ferment it. This fermented mixture of pollen and nectar is called bee bread. Studies on the processing of pollen into bee bread have been conducted using European honey bees. Whether there is a genotypic component to the processing of pollen into bee bread has not been investigated. To determine if genotypic differences exist, we fed African and European bees the same pollen diet and allowed them to convert it to bee bread. We then fed the bee bread to newly emerged African and European bees. There were differences between pollen and bee bread in protein concentrations and amino acid composition. The bee bread made by African bees was consumed at higher rates than that made by European bees. African bees had higher hemolymph protein levels than Europeans particularly when they fed on African bee bread. The role of microbes on the conversion of pollen to bee bread will be discussed.