Combined effects of edible tryptophan and ascorbic acid on some physiological, biological and behavioral parameters on workers of the Iranian honey bee, Apis mellifera meda L.

This study was considered the effect of bees feeding with mixture of tryptophan and ascorbic acid on some of physiological , behavioral, and productive parameters in Iranian honey bee. The treatments included tryptophan(12 mg/gr) , ascorbic acid (2 mg/gr) combined in 1:1 syrup ( sugar 1 kg per 1 liter of water), and for control treatment only used syrup. Bees were fed once a week.The results showed that feeding bees with syrup contain tryptophan and ascorbic acid had significant effect on malondialdehyde(MDA), melatonin(MEL) and serotonin(SER) levels (P<0.01). The maximum levels of MDA, MEL and SER was observed in worker bees which they fed respectively with tryptophan (31.59± 0.72 pg/ml), combined tryptophan and ascorbic acid (178 ± 5.02 pg/ml) and ascorbic acid treatment (28.31± 5.02 pg/ml). The minimum levels was recorded respectively in ascorbic acid (17.59± 0.35 pg/ml), (74±3.06 pg/ml) and tryptophan(15.2±0.31 pg/ml) treatments. The weight of treated bees was affected statistically (P<0.001). The maximum weight was related to feeding bees with combine tryptophan and ascorbic acid syrup (111.26 ± 3.26 mg) and the minimum was in control group (90.34 ± 1.75 mg). The reaction of bees to the leather ball showed that dietary treatments had no effect on defensive behavior of worker bees. The defined diets had a significant effect on the peace of bees within the colony (P<0.05) and also on the offensive behavior of the bees (P<0.05). All treatments had significant effects on fecundity, larvae and pupae density and honey production in comparison with control (P<0.001).