AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEIN ADEQUACY FOR HONEY BEES OF POLLENS FROM DESERT PLANTS AND OTHER FLORAL SOURCES

Abstract

Honey bees, Apis mellifera, require protein from pollen primarily as a source of essential amino acids. Thus,wedeterminedtheaminoacidsandproteincontentsofhand-collectedpollensfromselected desert plants that bees sometimes visit and from other floral sources. Prickly pear pollen that is seldom collected by honey bees had the lowest protein content and creosote bush, a pollen source for bees, the highest. Glutamicacid,asparticacid,andprolinewerethepredominantaminoacidsinalldesertpollens examined. Thedesertplantshadlowproteinlevels,buttheiraminoacidpatternswereinagreementwith the requirements for honey bees with the exception that catclaw pollen, which is seldom collected by bees, waslowinmethionine. Sincehoneybeesrarelyfeedononefloralsource,thelowproteinlevelsofthese pollens could be compensated by collection of pollens that have high protein levels. Also, since desert plants are valuable nectar sources for bees in Arizona, pollen collection may be incidental to nectar collectionforhoneyproduction. Thesepollensmightalsobecollectedbybeecoloniesthatarerearing brood and have a shortage of pollen. Analyses of data from pollens from floral sources other than desert plants revealed a significant correlation between the level of protein ingested (but not the essential amino acid composition) and the development of the hypopharyngeal glands of worker bees.