EFFECTS OF CONCENTRATIONS OF SUGAR, VITAMINS, AND AMINO ACIDS ON SURVIVAL AND TOLERANCE OF HONEY BEES TO LOW-TEMPERATURE STRESS

Year 2025, Volume: 25 Issue: 2, 231 - 242

Heba Elgebaly , Atef Nassar , Adnan Darwish , Hossam Abou-shaara

Abstract

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) may experience brief periods of cold stress, particularly in autumn and winter. Meanwhile, beekeepers often supplement their colonies with artificial nutrition during these periods. This practice can expose honey bees to varying sucrose concentrations, vitamins, and amino acids in their diet. Therefore, this study examines how these nutritional components influence the honey bees' ability to withstand cold stress in laboratory settings. This study comprised three sub-experiments: I) Comparing three concentrations (40%, 60%, and 80%) of sugar syrup + water as control group, II) Comparing three concentrations (0.02%, 0.06%, and 0.12% (equivalent to 10, 30, and 60 µL / 50 mL of 60% sugar syrup) of vitamins + 60% sugar syrup only as control group, and III) Comparing three concentrations (0.02%, 0.06%, and 0.12% (equivalent to 10, 30, and 60 µL / 50 mL of 60% sugar syrup) of amino acids/vitamins mixture + 60% sugar syrup only as control group. The concentration of 60% sugar syrup was selected as the solvent for vitamins and amino acids/vitamins mixture because preliminary sucrose experiments showed that 60% provided the highest cold stress tolerance. Three parameters were used to evaluate the ability of honey bees to withstand cold stress conditions: time until narcosis, time until recovery, and survival after recovery. Bees were exposed to 4°C until narcosis and then transferred to room temperature (25 ± 1 °C) for recovery. The results showed that bees fed on 60% sugar syrup performed better in terms of the measured parameters compared to other concentrations or the control group. Supplementation of sugar syrup with vitamins had an impact on the measured parameters, showing superior results in the vitamin 0.06% (30 µL/50 mL( group. Regarding the amino acids/vitamins mixture, some improvements in the ability of honey bees to tolerate cold stress conditions were recorded. This study provides insights into the effects of nutrition on honey bees' tolerance to low-temperature stress, laying the groundwork for further research.

Keywords

Nutrition , Cold , Stress , Honey bees , Tolerance

Bal Arılarının Düşük Sıcaklık Stresine Karşı Hayatta Kalma ve Toleransı Üzerinde Şeker, Vitamin ve Amino Asit Konsantrasyonlarının Etkileri

Abstract

Arılar (Apis mellifera), genellikle sonbahar ve kış aylarında kısa süreli soğuk stresi deneyimleyebilirler. Bu sırada arıcılar genellikle kolonilerini yapay besinlerle desteklerler. Bu uygulama bal arılarını diyetlerinde değişen şeker konsantrasyonları, vitaminler ve amino asitlere maruz bırakabilir. Bu nedenle, bu çalışma bu besin bileşenlerinin bal arılarının laboratuvar ortamında soğuk stresle başa çıkma yeteneklerini nasıl etkileyebileceğini araştırmaktadır. Bu çalışma üç alt deneyi içermektedir: I) Şeker şurubunun üç konsantrasyonunun (40%, 60% ve 80%) su kontrol grubu ile karşılaştırılması, II) Vitaminlerin üç konsantrasyonunun (10 µL, 30 µL ve 60 µL / 50 mL %60 şeker şurubu, sırasıyla %0.02, %0.06 ve %0.12) %60 şeker şurubu kontrol grubu ile karşılaştırılması, ve III) Amino asitler/vitamin karışımının üç konsantrasyonunun (10 µL, 30 µL ve 60 µL / 50 mL %60 şeker şurubu, sırasıyla %0.02, %0.06 ve %0.12) %60 şeker şurubu kontrol grubu ile karşılaştırılmasıdır. Vitaminler ve amino asitler/vitamin karışımı için çözücü olarak %60 şeker şurubu seçilmiştir çünkü ön deneylerde farklı sakkaroz konsantrasyonları karşılaştırıldığında %60, soğuk stres toleransında en yüksek performansı göstermiştir. Bal arılarının soğuk stres koşullarına dayanma yeteneğini değerlendirmek için üç parametre olara; narkoz süresi, iyileşme süresi ve iyileşme sonrası hayatta kalma süresi kulalnılmıştır. Arılar 4°C’de narkoz olana kadar tutulmuş ve ardından iyileşme için laboratuvar sıcaklığına (25 ± 1 °C) aktarılmıştır. Sonuçlar, %60 şeker şurubu ile beslenen arıların diğer konsantrasyonlara veya kontrol grubuna göre ölçülen parametreler açısından daha iyi performans gösterdiğini ortaya koymuştur. Şeker şurubuna vitamin takviyesi, ölçülen parametreler üzerinde etkili olmuş ve 30 µL / 50 mL (%0.06) vitamin grubu en iyi sonuçları göstermiştir. Amino asitler/vitamin karışımı ile ilgili olarak, bal arılarının soğuk stres koşullarını tolere etme yeteneklerinde bazı iyileşmeler kaydedilmiştir. Bu çalışma, beslenmenin bal arılarının düşük sıcaklık stresine karşı toleransı üzerindeki etkilerine dair içgörüler sunarak ileri araştırmalar için altyapı oluşturmaktadır.

Keywords

Beslenme , Soğuk , Stres , Bal arıları , Tolerans

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