A New Ash Mixture for Honeybees Maintained on a Synthetic Diet

SummarySmall colonies of newly emerged honeybees were fed a synthetic diet containing 18 amino acids, 10 water-soluble vitamins, and sucrose, supplemented with 1% (dry weight) of (a) pollen ash, or (b) Wesson's salt mixture, or (c) a Beltsville ash mixture, or (d) nothing. The Beltsville ash mixture was based on the mineral contents of pollens collected in 7 areas in the USA. The number of larvae reared to the sealed stage was greatest with (c), but most diet was consumed with (d), followed by (b), (a), (c). At a 5% probability level, brood rearing with (d) differed from that with (a) and (c), and consumption with (c) differed from the other three.