Bees need a balanced diet to maintain a healthy hive

2010/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

Researchers at the French Institute of Agricultural Research have concluded that bees that feed on a single type of pollen have a lower capacity for protecting the hive from infections.

Bees often have only one type of pollen at their fingertips, as they live in single-crop lands. And this can negatively affect hives, according to this study.

To reach this conclusion, bees have been raised in groups and fed each group with different pollen preparations, some made with single-plant pollen and others mixed with multi-plant pollen. Once four chemical indicators of the immune system of these bees have been measured, no differences have been found. However, it has been observed that in bees fed pollen from some plants the glucose oxidase level is 40% higher. Bees use this hormone to protect food from larvae and thus protect the hive from infections.