Presentation Details
| The effect of deficiencies in nutrient stores on diet intake and brood provisioning ability in honey bees Anastasia A.Weger, Clare C.Rittschof. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA |
Abstract
Early-life nutrition is critical for adult fitness. When caregivers are involved, adequate nutrition is influenced by their ability to provide correct nutrient quantities. In the honey bee Apis mellifera, young adult workers (nurses) consume pollen and develop large lipid stores to synthesize nutritional secretions for larvae. When colony stress leads to the loss of the young adult population (e.g., re-queening or disease), older workers specialized to forage may “revert” to nursing. Foragers consume a high-sugar diet and lose the ability to digest pollen and grow large lipid stores. “Reverted nurses” do not regain their lipids, which can limit their brood provisioning ability. We hypothesize that reverted nurses consume a distinct hybrid diet to compensate for their physiological limitations (more lipids and sugars and less protein compared to typical nurses). To test dietary intake targets, we kept typical and reverted nurses and typical foragers in cages for 7 days with diets containing different quantities of protein, lipids, and sugars. This is an important first step in investigating how honey bees compensate for physiological incompatibilities with their behavioral role
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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