Does Dusting Honeybee Colonies with Pollen Supplement Benefit the Hive?

Overview

Objectives/Goals To find out if pollen supplement dislodges parasitic mites as well or better than powdered sugar dusting. To find out if pollen supplement also feeds the bees effectively. To see if pollen supplement dusting results in an increase in brood. Methods/Materials 10 one story beehives with removable bottoms, Contact paper, Pollen supplement, Powdered sugar, Measuring cup,Bee brush,Smoker,Lumber crayon, coumaphous strips, Tweezers, daily pill container, microscope and slide, glycerin, isopropyl alcohol Results Average mite drop pollen supplement .95 mites. Average mite drop powdered sugar 1.05. Brood increased by 1.3 combs. The hives cleaned up the pollen supplement 100% of the trials. No pollen supplement was found in any of the samples taken from the comb. Conclusions/Discussion Overall I found that pollen suplement dusting was not benefical to the hive. It did not dislodge mites better than powdered sugar. I could not prove that the number of brood combs increased. Although the bees cleaned up the pollen supplement, I was unable to find it stored in the combs as pollen is.

Competition history

• CSEF 2008 Zoology · Entry J2015

Resources

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