The new food with a pollen vaccine for honey bees brings hope to survive

Scientists have revealed a new nutritional source designed to keep honey bee colonies indefinitely without natural pollen.

Posted in the magazine The facts of the Royal Society BThe research from Washington State University and the Apix Biosciences NV in Winsgin, Belgium, shows successful experiences where the numerous tense colonies flourished, which were published to vaccinate commercial crops in Washington State, on the new food source.

This innovation, which resembles a human -made diet, feeds on livestock and pets throughout their lives, contains all the nutrients that honey bees need. It is expected that it will become a strong strategy to combat the rising rates of the collapse of the colony and the protection of the global vaccination -based food supplies.

The newly developed food source is similar to human “energy bars”. It is placed directly in honey bee colonies, where it treats young bees and distributes the basic nutrients on the larvae and adult bees.

This penetration addresses one of the increasing challenges that honeybees face: the lack of sufficient nutrition in their environment.

“The changes in the use of lands, urban expansion and harsh weather are all negatively affecting the nutrition of honey bees and other pollinations,” said Brandon Hopkins, a prominent distinguished professor of pollinators at the United States State University and co -author of the paper.

“Honey bees are public scientists and do not get every nutrition from one source. They need a diversity in their diet to survive, but it is increasingly difficult to find the constant supply of pollen they need to maintain the colony.”

Dr. Patrick Bilkington, CEO of APIX BIOSCINECES US, stressed the importance of this development.

“Even this study, honey bees were the only cattle that could not maintain a human -making feed.”

“The scientific work is reported in commercial field conditions that providing stressful colonies in terms of nutritional with our vaccine feeding leads to a major change in a measurable step in the health of the colony compared to the best current practices. Our product has the ability to change the way to manage honey bees.”

The research, which is the coronation of more than a decade of work, included widespread cooperation. Terry Bogurt, the main author and chairman of the Biological Sciences Board of Directors, highlighted the cooperative effort.

“The newly published work is the result of a massive scientific effort for three teams,” Bogurt said. First, APIX biological founders and scientists who have tested thousands of groups of ingredients on honey bees for more than 10 years to create this nutrition.

“Second, the leading WSU team in Honey Bee and Field Experience, and thirdly, from the leading beekeepers in California with the guidance teams. They have tested a large -scale field and based on the feed.

There is a decisive discovery in the research is the role of isopoocosterol, a natural molecule in pollen that acts as vital nutrients for honey bees.

The colonies fed by the fertilized foods of theososterol survived a full season without reaching pollen, while those who are not severely declined, including decreased larvae, adult paralysis, and colonial collapse. The new nutrition also contains a comprehensive mixture of other nutrients that honey bees need.

To verify the effectiveness of the new food source under the circumstances of the real world, WSU has conducted field experiments with dietary continuous colonies in the fields of pipelines and sunflowers, both of which are known for the quality of the bad pollen of the bees. Compared to the colonies that receive standard or without supplements, those that fed the new food source flourished, indicating an increase in survival and the growth of the colony.

Hopkins said: “Some bee breeders are no longer polluted wild grapes because colonies suffer or die and do not cover vaccination fees.”

“The berries pollen is not very nutritious for honey bees, and it has not been well adapted to vaccinate this crop. But if they have this additional food source, bee breeders may return to vaccinating these fields because they know that we solve them more likely to survive.”

The intense challenge of high annual colonial mortality, with reports indicating losses at the crisis level, emphasizes the urgency of this innovation.

Bilkington expressed optimism about the effect of discovery.

“We are confident that the product will positively affect the beekeepers and farmers as soon as it is available for purchase in the United States, which is targeting in mid -2016,” he said.

“Meanwhile, we work with WSU and a beekeeping community throughout the United States to develop the best way to take advantage of this new tool in agricultural environments.”