The Effect of Adding Different Concentrations of Chelated Mineral Supplement to Sugar Syrup  on the Behavioral, Reproductive, and Functional Traits of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies

Ataollah Rahimi; Loghman Zarhesh

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v73i3.12849

Authors

Ataollah Rahimi Animal Science Research Department, Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Sanandaj, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4298-7304
Loghman Zarhesh Biology and Disease Vectors Department, College of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v73i3.12849

Keywords:

Honey bee, Nutrition, Performance traits, Productivity, Honey Bee, nutrition, performance traits, productivity

Abstract

The nutritional status of honey bee colonies plays a vital role in their development, survival, and productivity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of chelated mineral supplement on the behavioral, reproductive, and functional traits of honey bee colonies. This study was conducted in a completely randomized design with five treatments and seven replications. The treatments included treatments containing concentrations of 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.25 g/L of the chelated mineral supplement dissolved in sugar syrup and control treatment. The experimental colonies were fed over 60 days from the beginning of March 2025, and then their honey production, population (adults and brood), palatability, aggressive behavior, calmness behavior, and pollen collection traits were assessed. Variance analysis results showed that the effect of treatment was significant on all studied traits (p<0.01). Means comparison results showed that the highest mean of honey production (14.75 kg), adults (10.57 frames) and brood (7 frames) population, palatability (4), aggressive behavior (4), calmness behavior (4), and pollen collection (657.86 cells) traits of experimental honey bee colonies was observed in the treatment fed with sugar syrup containing a concentration of 0.75 g/L of the chelated mineral supplement, and the lowest mean of these traits was related to the treatment fed with sugar syrup containing a concentration of 1.25 g/L of this supplement. These findings indicate that adding the chelated mineral supplement at an optimal concentration (0.75 g/L) to sugar syrup during feeding leads to improve behavioral, reproductive, and performance traits of honey bee colonies and increases apiary productivity.

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