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Trials - 2001
Trials - 2001
The Institute of Apiculture has conducted a study of “PCHELIT”. It was carried out in town Rybnoye (Russia). Practical tests have been carried out in three stages. The first step was to study different carbohydrate feeds consumability; one of them was obtained by means of “PCHELIT”. The aim of this stage was to compare the comparative attractiveness of these feeds. For this purpose scientists have formed five groups of five entomological cages, each cage containing 50 one-day-old bees. Bees received daily:
Daily monitoring of the amount of feed consumed was conducted. The second step was to compare invert syrup made by means of “PCHELIT” with sugar syrup. To do this the researchers had formed 2 isolated colonies of the same weight (approximately 0.5 kg each). Natural food was almost absent. The first colony was fed with invert syrup made by means of “PCHELIT”; the second colony was fed with non-invert sugar syrup. Daily monitoring of the level of consumption of both syrups was conducted. Every 6 days the condition of bee colonies was observed. 12 days later feed samples were taken from each colony (feeds obtained by bee-processing of the syrups). The researchers studied physiological state of several sample bees taken from the colonies. The third step was a field test. 3 syrups were compared. It was conducted at the apiary "Krasnopolyanskoe."
To do this, on August, 3rd three groups each containing 10 bee colonies were picked up, identical in strength and having equal amount of carbohydrate feeds. The first group of bee colonies received invert syrup made by means of “PCHELIT"; the second colony received invert syrup with addition of protein-vitamin complex, and the third one recieved sugar syrup. Each family received about 8 liters of syrup in 10 days. At the end of the test feed samples were taken from each colony (feeds obtained by bee-processing of the syrups). The state of pharyngeal glands of the bees that processed the syrups was studied. RESULTS All the five kinds of feeds were being consumed by the caged bees in the first part of the issue. The highest feed consumption was observed in the groups that were fed with inverted syrups (one of them made by means of “PCHELIT” and the other was from Russian State Institute of Apiculture) and with honey syrup. The lowest feed consumption was observed in the group fed with German invert syrup. Its rate of consumption was less than in previous two groups by 1/3. Sugar syrup consumption was also less than that of Russian invert syrups. These data are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Feed consumption in the bees kept in cages on different carbohydrate diets.
The fact that the bees preferred invert syrup prepared with “PCHELIT” and invert syrup by Russian State Institute of Apiculture can be explained with their composition. Apart from simple sugars both syrups contain amino acids, macro- and micronutrients, group B vitamins. The result is a unified dietary supplement, its elements work in a complex, reinforcing each other's action. Obtained invert syrup was analyzed for micronutrients and amino acids. The data can be seen in Table 2. Table 2. The results of analyzes of amino acid and mineral composition of inverted syrup “PCHELIT”
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that German feed that was also studied contains only sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose), and preservatives. On the one hand, this makes it less attractive for bees. On the other hand, this feed is less likely to ferment even with comparatively low (less than in honey) content of solids (71%). The tests held on bees in isolation have revealed the following. The bees from the group receiving invert syrup “PCHELIT” have consumed 13.66 kg of syrup during the experiment. There were approximately 10.5 kg of feed in the hives at the end of the experiment, representing 76.7% of total consumption. “Sugar syrup” group has consumed 5.75 kg of feed. There were 4.6 kg of processed feed in the hives at the end of the experiment. It makes 80% of total consumption. Groups receiving invert syrups have built 3 honeycomb frames each. Groups receiving sugar syrup had hardly began to build honeycombs. So, the first group of bees has used 23.3% of the feed for the construction of honeycombs, and the other group has used 20% of the feed simply for its processing, for splitting sucrose to monosaccharides with invertase produced by the bee itself. This is confirmed by the numerous literature data. The number of brood raised was the same in both cases. The state of the hypopharyngeal glands of bees treated with invert syrup was better than that of sugar syrup group (respectively 2.7 and 2.5 points).
The analysis of the feeds obtained by bee-processing of invert syrup and sugar syrup is presented in table 3. Table 3. Composition of sugars in feed samples from the honeycomb cells on day 12 after the start of feeding.
Presented in Table 3, the data clearly show that the sucrose content in the cells of bee colonies, which were fed with sugar syrup, is more than eight times higher than that in groups fed with invert syrup. Beekeepers are well aware that a large amount of sugar syrup, processed in a short period of time, may result in an insufficient enzyme allocation in bees. The reason is limited performance of bee glands. Moreover, if feeding is performed in pre-wintering period, the bees won’t have time to invert sugar syrup to the desired level. This threatens with crystallization of feed within the cells, which may lead to massive loss of bees. The researchers have formed 3 groups 10 colonies each to test the feeds in production conditions of apiary "Krasnopolyanskoe." The average strength of the colonies was 3 beeways. Food supplies for each colony were not higher than 3 kg of honey. The first group was fed with invert syrup, the second group was fed with invert syrup enriched with vitamins and proteins; the third was fed with sugar syrup. Each group of colonies had consumed 8 liters of syrup during 10 days of experiment. Table 4 presents the data describing the state of the food reserves in the experimental groups. Table 4. The level of the food reserves in bee colonies fed with different carbohydrate feeds. (August, 2001)
According to numerous published data, some of the carbohydrate feed (20-30% of sugar) is spent directly on its processing (splitting sucrose to monosaccharides with invertase). If the bees are fed with invert syrup, such splitting is not required. The bees will expend energy only on evaporating excess moisture. The following losses of food (during its transfer from the feeder to the cells) were observed: group 1: 24.4%; group 2: 20.9%; group 3: 36.9% of syrup. When you consider that the first two groups received syrup with sugar concentration of 63%, and the third – of 70%, the loss of sugars were as follows: group 1: 1.23 kg, group 2: 1.05 kg, group 3: 2.07 kg. That is, the processing of sugar syrup leads to a large loss of feed. Furthermore, the bees physiologically wear faster, and their lifespan is reduced. The results of a cage experiment show that the bees fed with invert syrup lived 18.5 days and those fed with sugar syrup lived 14.7 days. The results of the experiments which were devoted to the development of a new feed for bees showed clear advantages of "PCHELIT" prior to the sugar syrup. Thus, the yeast-enzyme agent "PCHELIT", which was introduced by our company ("TRIS"), is recommended to be used by the beekeepers for making invert syrup. The use of invert syrup is particularly recommended in early spring, so that the bee colonies could strengthen, and during late-summer period with low honey-flow. In our region "PCHELIT" can be used in autumn, the bees strengthening before winter, when beekeepers have to give them up to 5 kg of sugar per colony. Invert syrup also makes digestive processes in bees going easier; such syrup is useful for weakened bees. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
