The Impacts of Two Protein Supplements on Commercial Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are pollinators of major importance for crop production. In recent years, colony management has become more difficult due to multiple problems such as pesticide exposure, exotic parasites, pathogens and nutritional deficiencies. The latter has incited beekeepers to provide protein supplements to their colonies to make up for the lack of pollen resources in the environment. However, their efficiency varies depending on their composition and the surrounding landscape. In this field study, we provided two different protein supplements (Global Patties (R) and Ultra Bee (R)) to colonies with either limited or unlimited access to natural pollen to assess their impacts on various colony and individual bee parameters. We used 50 colonies distributed among three sites in the Monteregie area, in Quebec, Canada. We found that supplemented colonies limited in pollen collection were able to raise the same amount of brood than control colonies. Nurse bees in supplemented colonies also had a higher protein content compared to control bees. However, bees from supplemented colonies displayed shorter lifespan, which casts a doubt on the suitability of these products for honey bee nutrition. The supplement containing natural pollen, Global Patties (R), was the most consumed and the most beneficial of the two for the colonies. Finally, colonies from the apiary surrounded by the highest proportion of cultivated land in a 5-km radius performed better toward the end of the season, which could be due to the presence of nutritionally interesting plants specific to the agricultural landscape at that time of the year.