Haemolymph sugar levels in foraging honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica): dependence on metabolic rate and in vivo measurement of maximal rates of trehalose synthesis

Previous investigations of haemolymph sugar levels in honeybees have reported very different results, probably because different experimental conditions affected the activity levels of the animals. The present study investigated the dependence of haemolymph sugar levels in foraging honeybees on metabolic rate and whether the haemolymph sugar level is regulated. Free-flying foraging bees were trained to collect controlled amounts of sucrose solution of different concentrations (15%, 30% or 50% sucrose w/w). Immediately after feeding, metabolic rate was measured over a given time depending on the sucrose concentration, then crop-emptying rate and haemolymph sugar levels were measured. Bees exhibiting a wide range of metabolic rates were compared to establish whether the observed differences in haemolymph sugar levels were due to limits in the supply of sugars from the crop or in the rate of trehalose synthesis in the fat bodies. Independent of the concentration of the sucrose solution supplied, haemolymph trehalose, glucose and fructose levels were constant for metabolic rates from 0 to 4.5 ml CO(2)h(-1). At higher metabolic rates, trehalose concentration decreased while that of glucose and fructose increased, with the exception of bees fed 15% sucrose solution. As the supply of sugar from the crop via the proventriculus was sufficient to support even the highest metabolic rates, the observed pattern must result from an upper limit in the capacity of the fat body to synthesise trehalose. The maximal rate of conversion of glucose to trehalose in the fat body was therefore calculated to average 92.4 microg glucosemin(-1). However, for bees fed 15% sucrose solution both the rate of conversion of glucose to trehalose and the rate of sugar transport from the crop to the ventricle were limited, together resulting in a decrease in total haemolymph sugar levels for metabolic rates higher than 5 ml CO(2)h(-1).