The Effects of Supplemental and Substitutional Bee Food on the Common Eastern Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens)

This study was undertaken to determine the effect of supplemental and substitution bee food on the common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) compared to what is most commonly fed to captive bumblebees now, which is honeybee pollen. There is not an extensive amount of knowledge about the effects of supplemental or substitutional bee food and whether or not what is fed to bumblebees can have an effect on their overall success and health. Three different test groups of micro-colonies of bumblebee each with ten replicants were set up in order to test this; each were fed a different bee food: (i) 100% honeybee pollen (P), (ii) a supplemental bee food (GP) and (iii) a substitutional bee food (BP). Over the test period it was discovered that bumblebees which were fed 100% honeybee pollen consumed between 63-73% more food than those fed a supplemental or substitutional food. It was also found that there was a relationship between what is fed to bumblebees and their success, in this case the amount of eggs they laid. Those bumblebees which were fed 100% honeybee pollen (P) and those that were fed a supplemental food (GP) had comparable amounts of eggs laid; P laid 121 eggs and GP laid 112 eggs). This is despite the fact that the bees in test group GP ate 66% less food than those bees which ate 100% honeybee pollen and yet they produced a comparable amount of eggs over the course of the experiment. The amount of supplemental food eaten by GP could be compared to the amount that was eaten by those bees fed a substitutional bee food (BP) as the two test groups ate a similar amount of food. GP only ate 16% more food compared to BP. However, the amount of eggs that each of the groups laid was vastly different with bumblebees that ate a supplemental diet (GP) laying 112 eggs in total and bees fed a substitutional bee food (BP) only laying 2 eggs in total over the experimental period. These findings suggested that supplemental food may be a comparable alternative food to be fed to captive bumblebees instead of what is most commonly fed to them which is honeybee pollen.