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By Doug Somerville
Livestock Officer (Apiculture) NSW Department of Primary Industries Goulburn
RIRDC Publication No 05/054 RIRDC Project No DAN-186A
Executive summary
The publication, Fat Bees/Skinny
Bees, is a manual on honey bee nutrition for beekeepers. It provides information
on the known essential chemical requirements of honey bees including the
components of nectar and pollen. Pollens with a protein level around 25%
or greater have been recognised as excellent quality pollens, those less
than 20% have been described as of a poor quality. Australia has had more
pollens analysed than any other country, and for the first time all of
the profiles of the analysis are presented, representing 183 species. There
is some evidence that pollens from the same genus, i.e., closely related
plants, exhibit similar nutritional values in regards to pollen chemical
composition.
Lack of nectar or stored honey presents the beekeeper with various sets of problems.
These scenarios are discussed with the most appropriate course of action. Likewise, lack of pollen or poor quality pollen creates its own set of problems, often exacerbated by the stimulus of a nectar flow. How to recognise the need to provide pollen supplement and the circumstances which may lead a beekeeper to invest in this practice are discussed.
Some facts about honey bee nutrition include; nectar flows stimulate hygienic behaviour; total protein intake is what should be considered, not so much the individual chemical properties of individual pollens; fats in pollen act as strong attractants to foraging bees, although increasing concentrations in pollen limit brood rearing; vitamins are very unstable and deteriorate in stored pollen; principal cause of winter losses is starvation, not cold.
Pollination and queen rearing present their own set of management issues in relation to supplementary feeding and managing nutritional stress. Stimulating colonies in both circumstances with strategic application of supplements can be very beneficial. Lack of fresh pollen has a major negative effect on the rearing of drones.
Means of preparing and feeding sugar and pollen supplements are presented in different chapters. Our knowledge on pollen supplements is limited, but this area has received a great deal of attention. On the other hand, sugar syrup feeding is a commonly practised management tool in many countries including the state of Tasmania, yet not on the Australian mainland.
The information provided in this manual should provide most beekeepers with enough information to seriously consider providing sugar syrup to bees in the future as a means of manipulating bee behaviour. As the costs and returns of beekeeping change, the option of sugar syrup feeding may prove to be an alternative to moving apiaries further afield in search of breeding conditions.
Forty four case studies of beekeepers from every state in Australia and two from New Zealand are provided as examples on what is being practised by commercial beekeepers. They are not necessarily getting it right, but by trial and error, are improving the way they manage bees and ultimately improving the profitability of their beekeeping enterprise.
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