A new approach in manufacturing vitamin and mineral feed additives for honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of new approaches in the creation of a complex vitamin and mineral feed additive for bees. Tasks - to develop two feed additives with the same content of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, vitamins and micro- and macroelements (the first - according to the traditional scheme, the second - taking into account the proposed solutions aimed at increasing the digestibility of vitamins and microelements); to perform a study on bees and evaluate the productivity of bee colonies using the developed feed additives. When creating a new feed additive, the problem associated with the possibility of active substances entering into undesirable chemical reactions with each other was solved. For this purpose, the additive was divided into two parts, differing in composition and given to the bees separately in a mixture with sugar syrup. To increase the bioavailability of some trace elements, their chelate complex compounds were used. An attempt was also made to increase the bioavailability of vitamins A, D, E by obtaining their microemulsions. A comparison was made of the effectiveness of the use of the specified two-component feed additive and top dressing with the same content of vitamins, macro- and microelements, proteins, fats and carbohydrates, but prepared according to the usual scheme. The study was conducted in a stationary apiary (located in the Udmurt Republic) on bee colonies with the same productivity. The productivity of bee colonies was assessed when using these feed additives in various dosages. The use of a new type of feed additive makes it possible to increase (compared to the control) the average honey productivity of bees by 59.1 %, and when using a feed additive prepared according to the generally accepted scheme, by 52.7 %.