Effect of autumn feeding with cliff pollen and spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) on wintering performance of honeybees

The best protein sources for bee colonies are pollen and bee bread, but the sale of these products provides additional income to the beekeeper. In addition, these products are difficult to store because they tend to lose their nutritional value over time, and problems may arise in bee colonies in the spring when there is a high demand for protein. Different recipes for alternative food for bees' additional nutrition have been developed according to the composition, acceptability, flavor content and digestibility of the nutrients, and honey and pollen. Therefore, the search for new substitute protein sources that can replace pollen continues. With this study, Spirulina, which has become quite popular in recent years and has also yielded successful results in cage trials in beekeeping, was used as an alternative protein source instead of pollen in autumn feeding, and the wintering performances of the colonies were determined. For this purpose, colonies consisting of Anatolian Bee Muğla Ecotype sister queen bees were created. Each group consisted of 4 colonies and the colonies were fed with bee cakes prepared with rockrose pollen (LP) and different doses of spirulina (S10%, S20% and S30%) once a week during October and November. After wintering, the adult bee population (EBP) in the colonies was determined as 4.6±0.47; 4.7±0.43 and 3.8±0.31 and 3.7±0.43 pieces in S10%, S20%, S30% and LP groups, respectively. In spring, the highest EBP and brood area (BA) were obtained in S20% (9.0±0.41 pieces and 6162±492 cm2) and the lowest EBP and BA were obtained in LP group (6.5±0.65 pieces and 4722±289 cm2) and the differences between the groups were found to be statistically insignificant. Considering the high protein content of spirulina and the fact that honey bee colonies enjoy consuming spirulina cake (except S%30), it can be recommended to add spirulina to bee diets during periods when pollen is insufficient. Especially in the future, it will be important to obtain detailed information about the positive and negative effects of spirulina with this and similar studies to be conducted more frequently.