DOI: 10.15482/usda.adc/29960078
title: Data from: Fall diet supplements do not affect honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colony size or profitability

description: [NOTE 2026-02-06: New data files added and previously published data files removed. Title and Description amended.]<br>Colonies, apiaries, and diet treatments<br>Colonies used in this study were part of an existing commercial beekeeping operation. The colonies were on pallets containing 4 colonies per pallet. The colonies were not normalized or equalized prior to the start of the experiment. All the colonies had an adult population, open and sealed brood, and no obvious signs of disease at the start of the experiment and were housed in two Langstroth deep boxes with 16-18 frames and 1-2 syrup feeders. Prior to the start of the experiment, the colonies were transported from Fannin County, Texas, USA to North Dakota, USA for honey production on May 20th (Table 1). The colonies were split evenly between two apiaries (“Edmore” and “Loma”; Table 1) and were treated with oxalic acid miticide in early August after the honey was harvested and before the experiment started.<br>Colonies were fed one of five commercial diets (MegaBee (megabee.com; 60 colonies), BeePro (Mann Lake; 60 colonies), UltraBee (Mann Lake; 56 colonies), AP23 (Dadant; 57 colonies), or Global 4% (base diet + 4% irradiated natural pollen; www.globalpatties.com; 60 colonies)) or a positive control diet (Global base diet + 75% irradiated natural pollen (globalpatties.com; 59 colonies)) in trial 1. In trial 2, colonies were fed one of the same five commercial diets, the same positive control diet, or no diet as a negative control (50 colonies per treatment split evenly between the apiaries). All diets came from the manufacturer in patty form. The diet patties weighed 0.454 kg (1lb) except for the MegaBee diet, which came as one solid block of patty that the field crew cut to approximately 0.454 kg patties. The diets were first applied immediately after the August pre-feed colony assessments. Patties were placed under the hive cover on the top bars of the frames weekly for 5 weeks.<br>In both trials, the colonies were moved in early October from each apiary site to the cold storage facility in Filer, Idaho, USA to overwinter (“post-feed”). In January, the colonies were transported from the cold storage facility to almond orchards in Tulare County, California, USA for pollination (“pre-almonds”).<br>Colony assessments<br>Colonies were assessed at four time points in both trials: a pre-trial assessment before the diet was added (“pre-feed”), after weekly feedings and just prior to cold storage (“post-feed”), after cold storage in the almond orchard before bloom (“pre-almonds”), and during almond bloom (“post-almonds”). The frames of bees (FoBs) in all colonies were measured using a variation of the “California count” that is used to grade colonies for almond pollination (Goodrich and Goodhue 2016). The California count colony size estimates are represented in frames of bees (FoBs).<br>Data sets<br>"FoBs_Trial1_OK.csv" contains (from left to right) the apiary location ("Yard"), colony number ("colony"), diet ("Diet"), time point ("Time_point"), frames of bees ("FoBs"), and the size of the colony when the experiment started ("preFeed")."FoBs_Trial2_OK.csv" contains (from left to right) the apiary location ("Yard"), colony number ("colony"), diet ("Diet"), time point ("Time_point"), frames of bees ("FoBs"), and the size of the colony when the experiment started ("preFeed")."rentSplit_Trial1_OK.csv" contains (from left to right) the apiary location ("Yard"), colony number ("colony"), diet ("Diet"), the pre-almond colony size ("PreAlmFoBs"), the grade that colony received pre-almonds ("grade"; A (highest) to F (lowest)), the post-almond colony size ("PostAlmFoBs"), and whether a colony could be split after almonds ("split"; split or not_split). Colonies that received an F grade were not considered for splitting post-almonds."rentSplit_Trial2_OK.csv" contains (from left to right) the apiary location ("Yard"), colony number ("colony"), diet ("Diet"), the pre-almond colony size ("PreAlmFoBs"), the grade that colony received pre-almonds ("grade"; A (highest) to F (lowest)), the post-almond colony size ("PostAlmFoBs"), and whether a colony could be split after almonds ("split"; split or not_split). Colonies that received an F grade were not considered for splitting post-almonds.<br>SAS code<br>"FoBs rev001 Trial1.txt" is the GLMMIX analysis of the colony size data from trial 1. For use with input file "FoBs_Trial1_OK.csv"."FoBs rev001 Trial2.txt" is the GLMMIX analysis of the colony size data from trial 2. For use with input file "FoBs_Trial2_OK.csv"."RentSplit rev001 Trial1.txt" is the GLMMIX analysis of the rental grades and split data from trial 1. For use with input file "rentSplit_Trial1_OK.csv"."RentSplit rev001 Trial2.txt" is the GLMMIX analysis of the rental grades and split data from trial 2. For use with input file "rentSplit_Trial2_OK.csv".<br>