Effect of Supplemental Diets of Corn Gluten, Soybean Meal and Bakery Yeast on Body Weight, Protein and Fat Percent in Worker Honey Bees

Honeybees like the other animal creatures require proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals vitamins and water for their maintenance, growth and reproduction. Normally they obtain their nutritional requirements from flowers but there are times when there aren’t sufficient flowers within reach they become in need of supplemental feeding. Some such nutritional substances as soybeans, glutens, yeasts, oilseed meals, milk powder, egg powder and others, are used as protein supplements, but their efficiency and digestibility are unknown as yet. In this research 6 diets comprised of 3 protein supplements (corn gluten, soybean meal and bakery yeast) at two levels of protein content (20 and 25%) along with 4000 kcal/kg GE of dry matter and sugar syrup (as control) were employed in a completely randomized design of 5 replicates (nucleuses). Data for body weight, carcass protein and fat percentage, as well as feed consumption were gathered and analyzed using SAS software. Results indicated that the difference between treatments was significant (P<0.01) for: feed consumption, feeding period, carcass protein, fat percentage a well as for body weight in worker group of bees.