Apiculture

Pollen Trial

Pollen Substitute trial conducted by Scientific Beekeeping

Scientific Beekeeping has been founded by Randy Oliver - a California-based beekeeper, considered by many as the “guru” of beekeepers and respected worldwide, and as the voice of ScientificBeekeeping.com. Randy Oliver is both an entomologist and beekeeper whose company is dedicated to research on a non-profit basis.

Alisha Taff is a nutritionist, a farmer, a beekeeper, and an advisor to a number of large beekeeping operations in the USA that run significant numbers of hives.

After making initial contact with Tane of AgriSea, at an Apiculture NZ conference in Rotorua in 2018 where she is often a keynote speaker, and being impressed by the analysis and natural form of AgriSea Bee Nutrition, Alisha went on to develop a pollen patty and include AgriSea Bee Nutrition as an ingredient.

Fig. 1 The above chart shows the timings of feedings and gradings of hives, as well as the occurrence of two natural pollen flows (thistle flow occurred in two of the three trial yards; the third yard (yard H) received 2 feedings [in red] during this period). The final grading was performed prior to the emergence of any bees from the alder flow.

Randy Oliver contacted Alisha Taff with regard to a trial he was about to conduct comparing pollen substitutes and asked her if she had a product she could submit. It was fortuitous that she had not long finalized a formulation alongside her commercial beekeepers and the benefits they were observing in the hives were amazing. He wanted to compare this against other commercially available pollen sub formulations. This is identified as the Homebrew patty and contains AgriSea Bee Nutrition as one of its key ingredients.

The trial was run in California over 175 days, or 8 brood cycles, and included 144 colonies. Figure 1 shows the timeline of the trial. As can be seen from the graphs below, the containing Homebrew pollen patty including AgriSea Bee Nutrition outperformed other products thought to be the “silver bullet” by many beekeepers in New Zealand.

The graphs following are taken from Randy’s research data as published in The American Bee Journal and are only a snapshot of the whole trial. Randy presented the findings of this trial at the recent Apiculture NZ Conference. His presentation alongside other findings can be viewed online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrsehnrDA-A or viewed at https://scientificbeekeeping.com/ or https://americanbeejournal.com/

Timeline

Fig. 2 A view of the tested patties, each type in a colour-coded tub for field distribution. Two of the subs contained natural pollen (Global and Homebrew).

Protein Content of the Pollen subs

Fig. 3 The protein content of each pollen sub. Protein content did not correlate with the patty consumption or how well they performed.

Fig. 4 Essential amino acids (EEA) as percent of protein

Essential amino acid percent of protein of the tested pollen subs

Comparison between individual bee mass (left) and colony strength (right) at midpoint

Fig. 5 Average individual bee mass (weight) was found to be closely correlated with colony strength at the mid-point of the trial (R2 = 0.80), indicating that what was nutritionally good for the individual bee was good for the colony as a whole.

Fig. 4 The essential amino acid profiles of subs as a percentage of protein. The subs all had very good EAA profiles when compared to de Groot’s estimates (black columns, De Groot, 1953). None were deficient in any EAA.

Amount (lbs) of each patty type fed/consumed (ad libitum) 15 Dec to end

Fig. 6 Unlike patty consumption during summer, the amounts consumed during late-winter buildup appeared to be mostly a function of colony strength, with the larger, faster-growing colonies consuming greater amounts of the fed diets. The feeding trials were run over winter to see the results when the colonies start to grow again as the weather warms (in this case, starting in mid-December).

Comparison of February to November colony strengths by diet type (all 131 live hives)

Fig.7 Cluster size in February (spring) relative to that in November (winter) (many data points overlap). The trendline indicates no change in strength, with colonies that grew above the line and those that shrunk lying below the line. In every diet group there were good and poor performers. However, on average, the Homebrew and Global colonies grew in strength whereas the rest had colonies scattered above and below the line.

Feeding Pollen subs

Fig. 8a, 8b, 8c As expected, sugar-fed control colonies went downhill, thus confirming the benefit of feeding pollen subs under these conditions. The benefit of November (mid-winter) cluster size is apparent, allowing the larger clusters to grow more rapidly during the late-winter buildup.

Total frames of bees on 1 Feb per patty group, all hives, all yards

Fig. 9 In California, the beekeeper’s income is based upon how many frames of bees (FOB) they can rent for almond pollination and then later sell as nucs. There were 133 rentable FOB in the 18 hives in the Homebrew group, compared to only 38 frames in the sugar controls.

AgriSea Bee Nutrition

AgriSea Bee Nutrition is a scientifically formulated and industry trialed nutritional supplement which supports healthy hives year-round. Our product was formulated from our own product development trials, feedback from beekeepers, advice from industry experts, and expertise from scientists. The end result is a combination of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements that bees need to survive and thrive. The naturally chelated form of these ingredients enhances their bioavailability to the gut of the bee. Produced naturally.

AgriSea Bee Nutrition has been designed for beekeepers to easily administer to hives as a liquid which they can mix in with their regular feed regime. No extra steps, no extra time, and a very little amount of product is required to deliver an immediately available source of nutrition to hives.

In a separate preliminary study undertaken by Auckland University, we were able to show that when Nosema-infected Sf9 cells (derived from Spodoptera frugiperda) were incubated with Agrisea Bee Health Formula (BHF), the cell viability was increased. This suggests that the BHF formula contains nutrients and supplements capable of sustaining cell metabolism and thus results in better health and well-being of bees.