Seasonal Pollens and Nutrition Research with Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman (S4, E14)

Beekeeping Today Podcast

Today we talk with Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman. Gloria is the Research Leader at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona.

Gloria and the researchers there are involved in several projects, but today we talked to her about just two that are both new and promising for beekeepers and their bees.

Modeling honey bee nutrition requirements on a seasonal basis is an area that has not received much attention to date, as they have been for many other animals. It turns out that the pollens that bees collect satisfy those requirements on a seasonal basis. High energy in spring with large amounts of amines and fatty acids for brood rearing, less so in summer and more towards storage use in the fall for overwintering. This may affect pollen feeding, and pollen substitute formulas to optimize their diets at the right time.

But there are both seasonal and regional differences in pollen quality, and what is being noted is that with climate change affecting the phenology of blooming dates, bees may not be able to get the food they need when they need it.

Another project being studied is overwintering colonies in climate-controlled buildings. They are looking at how much food will a colony need to do this, what the population should be when they enter a building, and when should they come out of storage so that they are ready to build fast for early pollination work, or later for honey flows. In addition, they are researching the best time for a season’s mite controls to be placed for optimum control and honey bee health.

Along with this they looked at cost efficiencies relative to winter losses, feed costs, colony strength and labor and made some interesting finds relative to these costs.

Listen in to hear more about this exciting research!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

• Carl Hayden Bee Research Lab - https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/carl-hayden-bee-research-center/
• Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

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