10/24/08 A bee smoothie

Washington Ag October 24, 2008 Could nutrition be one of the factors behind colony collapse disorder in honey bees? Researcher Gordon Wardell believes it could. That is why he has developed a nutritional supplement for honey bees. What he calls a "bee smoothie." Wardell: "The problem is the bees are only getting one type of pollen at a time. They are going from monoculture to monoculture and bees are not getting the diversity in the nutrition that they need." As for the results of the bee smoothie in the field; Wardell: "That through supplemental feeding I can extend the life of the average bee 15 to 25% over the control bees that are just getting normal pollen we collect in the fall." In the lab Wardell says bees would eat any supplement they were provided but in the field they were more picky. Wardell: "So we put out different nutritional supplements for them and they came along and they tested and they told us which different components they liked. Which smelled like food." Wardell says the supplement is not a long term solution for improved bee health. Wardell: "But what it will do, it will give the industry more time to figure out ways to diversify the bees' diet and make agriculture more sustainable." Wardell and his research partner developed the supplement through funding from USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and its Small Business Research Program. I'm Bob Hoff.