Supplementing With Vitamin C the Diet of Honey Bees Parasitized With Varroa destructor: Effect on Carbohydrate Metabolism

Abstract

The most profound decrease in the number of honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica) colonies is observed after winter. This study evaluates the effect of vitamin C (ascorbic acid, AA) supplementation in wintering colonies of honey bees naturally infested with the parasitic mite Varroa destructor on total carbohydrate content, glycogen, trehalose, glucose and fructose concentrations, and the activity of amylase and disaccharidases in a developing worker brood. The severity of the infestation was lower (1.18±0.6 of mites per bee) in bees whose diet were supplemented with vitamin C (group AA) than in the control group (C) (1.32±0.56 mites/bee). Glycogen and trehalose levels and the activity of α-amylase, glucoamylase and trehalase were significantly higher in newly emerged workers from group AA. The results of the study indicate that vitamin C in the diet of honey bees moderately reduces infestation levels and might improve selected indicators of carbohydrate metabolism in infested workers and thus improves the condition of apiaries.