Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) attraction to commercial pollen substitutes and wildflower pollen in vitro

Many beekeepers feed their western honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies artificial pollen substitutes to provide colonies with adequate nutrition during times of limited pollen quantity or quality. We provided caged worker bees commercially available pollen substitutes (AP23, MegaBee, UltraBee) and wildflower pollen in a choice-test to determine their relative attraction to/preference for the diets. We measured diet consumption by honey bees and observed honey bee behaviour to evaluate bee preferences for certain diets. The bees interacted with and consumed more wildflower pollen than they did any of the commercially available pollen substitutes. Our data suggest that bees have a strong preference for wildflower pollen over commercially available pollen substitutes.

Automated summary

Many beekeepers provide artificial pollen substitutes to their honey bee colonies when natural pollen is limited or of poor quality. In a choice-test, caged worker bees showed a preference for consuming wildflower pollen over commercially available pollen substitutes. This suggests that bees have a strong attraction to wildflower pollen.