Effect of Nutrition Dietary and Protein Supplements in Liquid form During the Summer and Autumn Seasons in the Biological Activity and some Physiological Traits of Honey Bee Colonies Apis mellifera L.

Abstract

The laboratory study was conducted in the Insect Laboratory, Plant Protection Department, and the Central Laboratory of the College of Agriculture and Forestry - University of Mosul. The field study was conducted in one of the private apiaries in Nineveh Governorate. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of nutrition honey bee colonies with liquid dietary and protein supplements during the summer and autumn seasons on their biological activity and some physiological traits. The results of the study showed that all treatments of nutrition with liquid protein materials and their supplements helped in improving the activity of bees and their physiological traits, especially the treatment of nutrition with super protein, which was distinguished by recording the highest values in (open brood area, closed brood area, bee density, and honey area) with an average of (338.67, 440, 180.67, and 780.3) cm2/colony, respectively. The nutrition treatment with the mixture also recorded good rates in the aforementioned traits with an average of (291.67, 233, 758.7, and 640.3) cm2/colony, respectively. The nutrition treatments varied in the rates of the bee’s biological activity traits, while the whey cheese treatment recorded an average for the above traits of (232.67, 143.3, 663, and 440) cm2/colony, respectively. As a result of the continuous supplementary nutrition process during the summer and autumn seasons, the super protein treatment also excelled in recording the highest rate of physiological traits (wet weight, dry weight, carbohydrates, fats, and protein) at rates of (74.98, 31.02, 15.85, 10.957, and 14.83), respectively. The nutrition treatment with the mixture recorded (73.16, 30.51, 13.17, 9.45, and 14), respectively, while the comparison treatment recorded the lowest rates in the biological and physiological traits of bees of (39.33, 34.7, 137, and 34.7) cm2/colony, respectively. The results of the study confirmed the importance of nutrition bee colonies with the mentioned nutrients during the period of scarcity of nectar and pollen to maintain their activity and prevent their death and deterioration.