U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Carl Hayden Bee Research Center: Tucson, AZ
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    Information
                        Africanized Honey Bees
                                    Bee Safety
                                    Online Books
                                    Other NewsSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Pacific West Area Tucson, Arizona Carl Hayden Bee Research Center Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications
- Cold Storage Overview
- Why put colonies in cold storage to overwinter?
- When to put colonies in cold storage?
- Which colonies to put into cold storage?
- Cold Storage Overwintering Tool
- Overview
- Objective 1: Climate effects on bloom and floral rewards
- Objective 2. Landscape level nutrition models
- Objective 3: Determine pollinator number, diversity and pathogen load
- Objective 4: Develop a management plan for overwintering colonies in cold storage
- Outcomes
- Varroa Overview
- Varroa mite life cycle and reproduction
- Varroosis
- How to Monitor, Sample, and Treat for Varroa
- Current Research: Mite Migration
- Introduction
- BEEPOP+ Model

Title:   Author  item
                                            DeGrandi-Hoffman, Gloriaitem
                                            ECKHOLM, BRUCE - Non ARS Employeeitem
                                            HUANG, MING HUA - Eurofins Scientific, Inc
  Submitted to: Journal of Visualized Experiments
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 7/25/2014
                                    Publication  Date: 3/17/2015
                                    Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61777Citation: Hoffman, G.D., Eckholm, B., Huang, M. 2015. Methods for comparing beebread made by Africanized and European honey bees and the effects on hemolymph protein titers. Journal of Visualized Experiments. doi: 10.3791/52448.Interpretive Summary: Nutrition plays a key role in the health of all organisms.  There are genetic factors that influence an organism’s ability to obtain nutrients from their food. Honey bees obtain their nutrients from pollen and nectar. Pollen is stored in comb cells and converted to a fermented honey and pollen mixture called beebread. We used two genetically different races of honey bees; European (EHB) and African (AHB) and fed them the same pollen to test for genetic influences on the conversion to beebread. We also examined the consumption of the beebread made by both races and resulting hemolymph protein levels. We found that beebread made by both races was more acidic than the pollen. Beebread made by EHB was slightly more acidic than AHB. The protein concentration in the beebread made by either race was similar and significantly lower than in the pollen. In general, amino acid concentrations were higher in beebread made by either race compared with pollen. The only exception was tryptophan. The concentrations of amino acids were similar in beebread made by either race except for phenylalanine and cysteine. Levels of phenylalanine were higher in beebread made by AHB than in either the pollen or bee bread made by EHB. Cysteine concentrations were lower in beebread made by EHB compared with pollen or beebread made by AHB. Both AHB and EHB consumed more beebread made by AHB. Protein concentrations in AHB were higher than in EHB regardless of the source of beebread. Differences in the ability to acquire protein from beebread between AHB and EHB might contribute to the successful establishment of AHB populations. This is because higher protein levels in workers can result in greater rates of brood rearing and colony growth.
                                Technical Abstract:  The influence of genotype on the conversion of pollen to beebread and on the ability of bees to acquire protein from it was examined using European and Africanized honey bees (EHB and AHB respectively).  Both subspecies were provided with the same pollen source. Pollen stored and converted to beebread by either subspecies had lower protein concentrations and lower pH values than the pollen. In general, amino acid concentrations in beebread made by either EHB or AHB were similar and occurred at higher levels in beebread compared with pollen. Both AHB and EHB consumed significantly more of the beebread made by AHB than by EHB. Though EHB and AHB consumed similar amounts of each type of beebread, hemolymph protein concentrations in AHB were higher than in EHB. Differences in protein acquisition between AHB and EHB might reflect environmental adaptations related to the geographic region where each subspecies evolved. These differences could contribute to the successful establishment of AHB populations in the New World because of the effects on brood rearing and colony growth.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov