The feasibility of substituting date syrup for sucrose in honeybee stimulatory feeding in late winter and early spring, in the natural condition of Karbala, Iraq

The date is one of the most nutrient-dense fruit which is low in fat and protein but high in sucrose. Date syrup is rich in macro and micro nutrients. The possibility of replacing the date syrup with sugar in Apis mellifera was investigated. For this purpose, the stimulatory feeding effects on the biological and biochemical characteristics were studied, under natural conditions, in Karbala, Iraq. The average of brood rearing area in the sugar syrup (50%) grew over time (during February and March 2019) from 147 to 272.7 inches2; however, in the other treatments ("date syrup" and "date syrup+ sugar syrup"), there was no increase in brood rearing area. Totally, there was no significant difference in the areas of capped honey storage and pollen storage in honeybee colonies fed various diets. Concerning biochemical features of honey, the highest concentration of diverse chemicals was associated with sugar, while the lowest concentration was associated with date syrup. Furthermore, the honeybees fed with date syrup had an average of 51.64 percent protein, whereas those treated with sucrose syrup had a percentage of 47.5. The highest fat reserve belonged to the honeybees treated with a "sugar syrup + date syrup" with an average of 9.1 %, in comparison with sugar treatment (6 %). The present study revealed that sugar syrup and date syrup treatments resulted in the highest and the lowest average percentage of carbohydrates (43.9% and 37.72%), respectively.