Optimal Level Of VA And VE In Pollen Substitutes Of Apis Mellifera Ligustica During The Period Of Spring Multiplication

VA and VE play important roles in honeybee’s growth and development. So far, therehave been few studies on nutrient requirement of honeybee and the optimal level of VA andVE in pollen substitutes. This experiment was conducted to study the effects of VA and VE onthe colony development, emergent weight, worker antioxidation, midgut development andlongevity of Apis mellifera ligustica during the period of spring multiplication, so as todetermine the optimal amount of VA and VE in pollen substitutes during the period of springmultiplication and explore the theory accordance of mutrient requirement of honeybee. Twoexperiments were carried out in this study.Thirty colonies of honeybees (no pollen in colonies) from a local apiary were used in thestudy. The honeybee colonies were randomly allocated to6groups with5replications each.One of the groups was fed pure rape pollen only and others were fed a basal diet withsupplementation of VA at the levels of0IU/kg,5000IU/kg,10000IU/kg,15000IU/kg and20000IU/kg, respectively. The colony development, emergent weight, worker antioxidationand midgut development of honeybees were ditermined. The results showed that:①Thepopulation of bee colony, amounts of sealed brood and total feeding amount weresignificantly increased (P<0.05) by10000IU/kg VA.②The workers’ emergent weight of10000IU/kg group and15000IU/kg group were correspondent (P>0.05) with control groupbut were significantly higher (P<0.05) than the other experimental groups.③10000IU/kg~15000IU/kg VA increased (P<0.05) the T-AOC, T-SOD activities and CAT activities ofhoneybee.20000IU/kg VA decreased (P<0.05) T-SOD activity and CAT activity. ExcessiveVA had no positive effect on the increase of antioxidant activities.④10000IU/kg VAsignificantly increased (P<0.05) the AKP activity and the PM thickness of midgut.Thirty colonies of honeybees (no pollen in colonies) from a local apiary were used in thestudy. The honeybee colonies were randomly allocated to6groups with5replications each.One of the groups was fed pure rape pollen only and others were fed a basal diet withsupplementation of VE at the levels of0mg/kg,240mg/kg,480mg/kg,720mg/kg and960mg/kg, respectively. The colony development, emergent weight, worker antioxidation andlongevity of honeybees were determined. The results showed that:①The population and total feeding amount of experimental groups were significantly increased (P<0.05) by480mg/kg~720mg/kg VE. The amounts of sealed brood of720mg/kg~960mg/kg groups weresignificantly higher than the other groups (P<0.05).②The workers’ emergent weight of720mg/kg~960mg/kg groups were significantly higher (P<0.05) than the experimental groupwith no VE supplemented.③480mg/kg~960mg/kg VE increased (P<0.05) T-AOC andT-SOD activities of experimental groups and had the same effects with control group(P>0.05).④480mg/kg~960mg/kg VE increased (P<0.05) the percentage proportion oflive worker bees and had the same effect with the control (P>0.05).These results indicated that: Optimal diet VA level (10000IU/kg~15000IU/kg) and VElevel (480mg/kg~960mg/kg) will increase the population of bee colony and antioxidantactivities of Apis mellifera ligustica during the period of spring multiplication. Excessive VA(20000IU/kg) had no positive effect on the increase of antioxidant activities.