Artificial diets for honey bees
AssigneesThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture, Arizona Board of Regents on Behalf of the University of Arizona, S.A.F.E. Research & Development, LLC
InventorsAllen C. Cohen, Gordon I. Wardell, Fabiana Ahumada-Segura
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention is directed to water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial diets and diet formulations which provide honey bees with a fully nutritious, complex mixture of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins in an easily digestible form. The diets of the invention support growth and development of honey bees, sustain brood rearing, and maintain hive vigor, and thus make possible the continuous rearing of bees using an artificial diet. The invention diets are useful for many purposes, and are particularly advantageous for providing nutrition sources for bees that are moved during commercial crop pollination or for other migratory beekeeping uses.
Claims37
A pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees, which comprises diet components comprising about 0.75-10% protein, about 0.75-5% lipid, about 25-45% carbohydrate, wherein about 98-99% of the carbohydrate is sugar including sugar that occurs naturally in the diet components and sugar from an added sugar source;
- about 0.05-4% ash;
- about 0.05-1% cholesterol;
- about 0.02-1.25% ascorbic acid, about 0.1-2% acidifier, about 0-3% hydrocolloid, about 0-1.5% antifungal agent, and about 45-65% liquid from liquid that naturally occurs in the diet components or added liquid or both naturally occurring and added liquid;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns, and wherein the formulation has a pH of about 3.5-7.
A stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation that, when combined with a liquid, provides all the dietary requirements for bees to rear multiple generations of young bees when there is an absence of natural pollen and nectar, wherein said stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation comprises soy flour or meal in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, dried egg in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, an acidifier in the amount of about 0.2-2.3%, ascorbic acid in the range of about 0.2-2.3%, an antifungal agent in the range of about 0 to 0.68%;
- and sugar in the range of about 57-85%, wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns.
A stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial diet formulation for providing nutrients for feeding or rearing bees when combined with a liquid and sugar, said dry formulation comprising a soy flour or meal in the range of about 35-50%, dried egg in the range of about 35-50%, an acidifier in the amount of about 2.5-4.5%, ascorbic acid in the range of about 2.5-4.5%, and an antifungal agent in the range of about 0 to 3.6%;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns.
A method of preparing a liquid diet formulation comprising the steps of providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation comprises diet components comprising about 0.75-10% protein, about 0.75-5% lipid, about 25-45% carbohydrate, wherein about 98-99% of the carbohydrate is sugar including sugar that occurs naturally in the diet components and sugar from an added sugar source, about 0.05-4% ash, about 0.05-1% cholesterol, about 0.02-1.25% ascorbic acid, about 0.1-2% acidifier, about 0-3% hydrocolloid, about 0-1.5% antifungal agent, and about 45-65% liquid from liquid that naturally occurs in the diet components or added liquid or both naturally occurring and added liquid, wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns, and wherein the formulation has a pH of about 3.5-7;
- and mixing together said diet components to provide a pourable, substantially homogeneous, water-dispersible liquid diet formulation.
A method of preparing a liquid honey bee diet formulation which comprising the steps of providing a stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation that, when combined with a liquid, provides all the dietary requirements for bees to rear multiple generations of young bees when there is an absence of natural pollen and nectar, wherein said stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation comprises soy flour or meal in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, dried egg in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, an acidifier in the amount of about 0.2-2.3%, ascorbic acid in the range of about 0.2-2.3%, an antifungal agent in the range of about 0 to 0.68%;
- and sugar in the range of about 57-85%, wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns;
- and mixing said stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation with a liquid to provide a pourable, substantially homogeneous, water-dispersible liquid diet formulation that provides all the dietary requirements for bees to rear multiple generations of young bees when there is an absence of natural pollen and nectar.
A method of preparing a liquid diet formulation which comprises the steps of providing a stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial diet formulation for providing nutrients for feeding or rearing bees when combined with a liquid and sugar, said dry formulation comprising a soy flour or meal in the range of about 35-50%, dried egg in the range of about 35-50%, an acidifier in the amount of about 2.5-4.5%, ascorbic acid in the range of about 2.5-4.5%, and an antifungal agent in the range of about 0 to 3.6%;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns;
- and mixing said diet formulation with a liquid and a sugar source to provide a pourable, substantially homogeneous, water-dispersible liquid diet formulation.
A method for rearing bees which comprises, providing bees with an effective bee rearing amount of a diet which comprises providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees, which comprises diet components comprising about 0.75-10% protein, about 0.75-5% lipid, about 25-45% carbohydrate, wherein about 98-99% of the carbohydrate is sugar including sugar that occurs naturally in the diet components and sugar from an added sugar source;
- about 0.05-4% ash;
- about 0.05-1% cholesterol;
- about 0.02-1.25% ascorbic acid, about 0.1-2% acidifier, about 0-3% hydrocolloid, about 0-1.5% antifungal agent, and about 45-65% liquid from liquid that naturally occurs in the diet components or added liquid or both naturally occurring and added liquid;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns, and wherein the formulation has a pH of about 3.5-7.
A method for rearing bees which comprises, providing bees with an effective bee rearing amount of a diet which comprises providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees, which comprises diet components comprising about 0.75-10% protein, about 0.75-5% lipid, about 25-45% carbohydrate, wherein about 98-99% of the carbohydrate is sugar including sugar that occurs naturally in the diet components and sugar from an added sugar source;
- about 0.05-4% ash;
- about 0.05-1% cholesterol;
- about 0.02-1.25% ascorbic acid, about 0.1-2% acidifier, about 0-3% hydrocolloid, about 0-1.5% antifungal agent, and about 45-65% liquid from liquid that naturally occurs in the diet components or added liquid or both naturally occurring and added liquid;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns, and wherein the formulation has a pH of about 3.5-7, wherein the protein and lipid sources selected from the group consisting of a soy source and an egg source, and wherein the acidifier source is an organic acid or phosphoric acid or combination thereof;
- wherein the hydrocolloid source is selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, locust bean gum, an alginate, a carrageenan, gum arabic, guar gum, carboxymethycellulose, pectin, agar, and combinations thereof, and wherein the added sugar source is a solid or liquid sugar selected from the group consisting of sucrose, fructose, glucose, makose, sugar syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and combinations thereof;
- wherein the soy source is soy flour or meal in a range of 1.5-7%;
- wherein the egg source is dried egg in a range of 1.5-7%, wherein the acidifier is an organic acid or phosphoric acid in the range of about 0.1-1%, wherein ascorbic acid is in the range of about 0.1 to 1%, wherein the hydrocolloid is in the range of about 0.2-3%, wherein the antifungal agent is in the range of about 0-0.3%, wherein the added sugar source is in the range of about 25-55%, and the liquid is in the range of about 45-65%.
A method for rearing bees which comprises, providing bees with an effective bee rearing amount of a diet which comprises providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees, which comprises diet components comprising about 0.75-10% protein, about 0.75-5% lipid, about 25-45% carbohydrate, wherein about 98-99% of the carbohydrate is sugar including sugar that occurs naturally in the diet components and sugar from an added sugar source;
- about 0.05-4% ash;
- about 0.05-1% cholesterol;
- about 0.02-1.25% ascorbic acid, about 0.1-2% acidifier, about 0-3% hydrocolloid, about 0-1.5% antifungal agent, and about 45-65% liquid from liquid that naturally occurs in the diet components or added liquid or both naturally occurring and added liquid;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns, and wherein the formulation has a pH of about 3.5-7;
- wherein the protein and lipid sources selected from the group consisting of a soy source and an egg source, and wherein the acidifier source is an organic acid or phosphoric acid or combination thereof;
- wherein the hydrocolloid source is selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, locust bean gum, an alginate, a carrageenan, gum arabic, guar gum, carboxymethycellulose, pectin, agar, and combinations thereof;
- and wherein the added sugar source is a solid or liquid sugar selected from the group consisting of sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, sugar syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and combinations thereof;
- wherein the soy source is soy flour or meal in a range of about 1.5-7%;
- wherein the egg source is dried egg in a range of about 1.5-7%, wherein the acidifier is an organic acid or phosphoric acid in the range of about 0.1-2%, wherein ascorbic acid is in the range of about 0.1-3%, wherein the hydrocolloid is in the range of about 0-1.5%, wherein the antifungal agent is in the range of about 0-0.3%, wherein the added sugar source comprises granulated sugar in a range of about 14-27% and sugar syrup and water mix in a range of about 65-85%.
A method for rearing bees which comprises, providing bees with an effective bee rearing amount of a diet which comprises providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees, which comprises diet components comprising about 0.75-10% protein, about 0.75-5% lipid, about 25-45% carbohydrate, wherein about 98-99% of the carbohydrate is sugar including sugar that occurs naturally in the diet components and sugar from an added sugar source;
- about 0.05-4% ash;
- about 0.05-1% cholesterol;
- about 0.02-1.25% ascorbic acid, about 0.1-2% acidifier, about 0-3% hydrocolloid, about 0-1.5% antifungal agent, and about 45-65% liquid from liquid that naturally occurs in the diet components or added liquid or both naturally occurring and added liquid;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns, and wherein the formulation has a pH of about 3.5-7;
- wherein the protein and lipid sources selected from the group consisting of a soy source and an egg source, and wherein the acidifier source is an organic acid or phosphoric acid or combination thereof;
- wherein the hydrocolloid source is selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, locust bean gum, an alginate, a carrageenan, gum arabic, guar gum, carboxymethycellulose, pectin, agar, and combinations thereof;
- and wherein the added sugar source is a solid or liquid sugar selected from the group consisting of sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, sugar syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and combinations thereof;
- wherein the soy source is soy milk in a range of about 50-65%, wherein the egg source is whole fresh egg or fresh egg yolk in a range of about 5-15%, wherein ascorbic acid is in the range of about 0.5-1.5%, wherein the acidifier is an organic acid or phosphoric acid in the range of about 0.5-1.5%, and wherein the added sugar source is in the range of about 22-40%.
A method for rearing bees which comprises, providing bees with an effective bee rearing amount of a diet which comprises providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees, which comprises diet components comprising about 0.75-10% protein, about 0.75-5% lipid, about 25-45% carbohydrate, wherein about 98-99% of the carbohydrate is sugar including sugar that occurs naturally in the diet components and sugar from an added sugar source;
- about 0.05-4% ash;
- about 0.05-1% cholesterol;
- about 0.02-1.25% ascorbic acid, about 0.1-2% acidifier, about 0-3% hydrocolloid, about 0-1.5% antifungal agent, and about 45-65% liquid from liquid that naturally occurs in the diet components or added liquid or both naturally occurring and added liquid;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns, and wherein the formulation has a pH of about 3.5-7;
- wherein the protein and lipid sources selected from the group consisting of a soy source and an egg source, and wherein the acidifier source is an organic acid or phosphoric acid or combination thereof;
- wherein the hydrocolloid source is selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, locust bean gum, an alginate, a carrageenan, gum arabic, guar gum, carboxymethycellulose, pectin, agar, and combinations thereof;
- and wherein the added sugar source is a solid or liquid sugar selected from the group consisting of sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, sugar syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and combinations thereof;
- wherein the soy and egg sources comprise a soy flour and egg mix in the range of about 4.5-9%, wherein ascorbic acid is in the range of about 0.02-0.2%, wherein the acidifier is an organic acid or phosphoric acid in the range of about 0.1-0.5%, wherein the hydrocolloid is in the range of about 0.01-2%;
- wherein the added sugar is a sugar syrup in the range of about 70-83%, and added liquid is in the range of about 13.5-19.5%.
A method for rearing bees which comprises, providing bees with an effective bee rearing amount of a diet which comprises providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees comprises soy flour or meal in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, dried egg in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, an acidifier in the amount of about 0.2-2.3%, ascorbic acid in the range of about 0.2-2.3%, an antifungal agent in the range of about 0 to 0.68%;
- and sugar in the range of about 57-85%, wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns;
- and liquid.
A method for rearing bees which comprises, providing bees with an effective bee rearing amount of a diet which comprises providing a pourable, water-dispersible, substantially homogeneous artificial liquid diet formulation suitable for rearing bees comprises a soy flour or meal in the range of about 35-50%, dried egg in the range of about 35-50%, an acidifier in the amount of about 2.5-4.5%, ascorbic acid in the range of about 2.5-4.5%, and an antifungal agent in the range of about 0 to 3.6%;
- wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns;
- a sugar source;
- and a liquid.
A liquid honey bee diet formulation made by the method of preparing a liquid honey bee diet formulation which comprises the steps of providing a stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation that, when combined with a liquid, provides all the dietary requirements for bees to rear multiple generations of young bees when there is an absence of natural pollen and nectar, wherein said stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation comprises soy flour or meal in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, dried egg in the range of about 3.4-16.1%, an acidifier in the amount of about 0.2-2.3%, ascorbic acid in the range of about 0.2-2.3%, an antifungal agent in the range of about 0 to 0.68%;
- and sugar in the range of about 57-85%, wherein particles in the formulation are no greater than about 35 microns;
- and mixing said stable, dry, water-dispersible artificial honey bee diet formulation with a liquid to provide a pourable, substantially homogeneous, water-dispersible liquid diet formulation that provides all the dietary requirements for bees to rear multiple generations of young bees when there is an absence of natural pollen and nectar.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.