Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXVII, Issue 2
Written by Petya VELEVA, Svilen LAZAROV
The study presents the influence of frozen and dried pollen feeding on the fat body development (FBD) of worker bees (Apis mellifera L.). The degree of FBD was determined before and after feeding during the Autumn and Spring periods. During Autumn, the highest percentage of bees (42.9%) with a second degree of FBD was found after feeding with dried pollen. During the same period, 38.1% of bees fed in this way were observed to have reached the third degree of FBD, and 19.0% of bees had reached the fourth degree of FBD. After completion of spring feeding with dried pollen, the highest percentage of bees (58.6%) with the fourth degree of FBD was reported. This percentage was significantly higher than the percentage before feeding (30.8%), with a difference of 27.8%. A significant increase in the percentage of bees (11.1%) fed with frozen pollen with the fifth degree of FBD was recorded for this period. The high degree of FBD of the worker bees indicates the greater effect of frozen pollen feeding compared to dried pollen feeding during the spring period.
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