Assessment of consumption and digestibility of artificial diets and their effects on few life study parameters of Apis mellifera L.
Amir Manzoor1, Muhammad Anjum Aqueel*1, Shams Ul Islam1, Eldessoky S. Dessoky2, Muhammad Haseeb Ahsan1, Bashir Ahmad1,3, Muhammad Usman Yousuf1, Muhammad Saqib4, Muhammad Fahim Raza5, Rashid Iqbal*4,6
1Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
2Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
3PARC-Arid Zone Research Institute, Bahawalpur, Pakistan
4Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
5Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5B4, Canada
6Department of Life Sciences, Western Caspian University, Baku, Azerbaijan
Abstract
Artificial diets are necessary for managed honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in arid regions when naturally occurring flora becomes scarce. The current study was planned to evaluate different artificial diets in terms of consumability and digestibility of A. mellifera and their effects on weight of queen bee, worker bee longevity and number of broods for colony survival and management in dearth period. Different artificial diets were administered separately to 33 colonies in three replications. The best combination was 25 g, each of soya flour, dry apricot powder, date paste and powder sugar, mixed in 8 ml of vegetable oil. Honeybees consumed most of diet-T8 in all weeks (average 49.53 g), followed by diet-T7 (average 38.81 g) and diet-T6 (average 34.55 g); while the minimum consumption was of diet-T1 (average 6.67 g). In diet digestibility experiment, diet-T2 showed the highest digestibility (73.9%) followed by diet-T1 (71.3%) and diet-T4 (66.7%) with the lowest digestibility in diet-T9 (59%). The protein present in hemolymph was highest in diet-T8 (26.9 ug/ul) followed by diet-T7 (24.1 ug/ul) and diet-T6 (22.9 ug/ul) with the lowest in diet-T1 (17.7 ug/ul). As a response to the feeding on the prepared diets, the queen’s bee weight was highest in diet-T8 (198.65 ± 0.36 mg) followed by diet-T7 and diet-T6 while the lowest in diet-T0 (control group, 182.28 ± 0.55 mg). Similarly, the worker bee longevity was highest in diet-T8 (53 ± 2.14 days) followed by diet-T7 and diet-T6 and lowest in diet-T0 (control group, 34 ± 1.73 days). In the brood experiment, the number of eggs, larvae and pupae was highest in diet-T8 (85 ± 2.03 eggs, 66 ± 1.15 larvae and 78 ± 1.15 pupae) while lowest in diet-T0 (51 ± 1.5 eggs, 26 ± 1.5 larvae, 23 ± 1.5 pupae) after 28 days of diet feeding. Therefore, diet-T8 can be used as substitute diet for the honeybees during dearth period for the survival and colony management of A. mellifera
Keywords: Apis mellifera diet, Substitute diet, Dearth period management, Diet digestibility, Weight of queen, Worker bee longevity, Number of broods
