A study on consumption of some artificial diet formulations by Apis mellifera colonies maintained at Panchkula and gwalior

A number of protein rich food ingredients viz. defatted soy flour, parched gram, brewer's yeast, soy protein hydrolysate, spirulina, skimmed milk powder, natural pollen and sugar, glucose and honey were mixed so as to prepare six diet formulations. These diets were fed to Apis mellifera colonies at Panchkula and Gwalior during summer dearth period. The amount of food consumed by bees was determined after every 14 days interval. The best results were obtained from diet composed of defatted soy flour, brewer's yeast, protein hydrolysate powder and natural pollen (bee collected) having total protein content of 22.12 per cent with the mean consumption of 65.4 and 65.7 g per colony in Panchkula and Gwalior, respectively Maximum consumption of the formulated diets was observed in the month of June when there was complete dearth of natural pollen.