Minahan, D., Goren, M., & Shafir, S. (2024). Unbalanced dietary omega-6: 3 ratio affects onset of nursing and nurse–larvae interactions by honey bees, Apis mellifera. Animal Behaviour.

You can see find the paper for free at this link….https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1jBU9mjM6FkK

Summary: Honey bees are important animals in the system promoting global food security. And they collect pollen and nectar from a wide range of flowering plants. A large quantity of their macronutrients (e.g., proteins, and fats) come from pollen. However, not all plants produce pollen of the same nutritional value. For example, corn pollen can be widely abundant, and in some cases collected by honey bees. But it is rich in omega 6, but deficient in omega 3 fatty acids. And as you may know, omega 3 fatty acids are quite important for the well being of many animals including humans. Which is why there is a big push these days to increase the consumption of omega 3 rich foods like fish, or flax seeds.

In this study we asked whether an overabundance of omega 6 relative to omega 3 fatty acids (ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 = 5, so 5x the quantity of omega 6) in the diet of young adult bees affects their nursing behavior. To monitor nursing behavior we placed small barcodes on the thorax of a bee and video recorded her visits to young larval bees inside the nest.

Background: Nursing behavior is important for honey bees, along with many other insects, and animals, including humans! In honey bees, the younger adult bees spend their time working inside the hive, keeping things tidy and clean, and making sure that all the bees inside the hive are well fed. This is particularly important for the immature, larval bees which develop singly inside a tiny hexagon shaped cell and must be fed a jelly like substance by nurse bees. This continues for 5.5 days for those destined to be workers, after which the larval bee is sealed away inside it’s cell to undergo metamorphosis, where it will emerge as a new adult bee. The amount and nutritional quality of food the larval bee is fed may affect its body size, but also it’s cognitive abilities and overall health.

The nurse bees must therefore be capable of detecting when bees are in need of food, and to ensure they consume the appropriate quantity and nutritionally balanced quality necessary. In the experiment reported in this paper we found the nursing activity of adult bees was affected by the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 consumed during the first 7 days following adult emergence. Specifically, that the age which bees begin nursing activity occurs later, while the frequency of nursing visits is lower. This suggests that honey bee colonies that do not consume a balanced omega 6 to omega 3 diet may produce bees into the next generation that are malnourished from lower food quantity, consumption inconsistency, and possibly nutritional imbalances. Further work is needed to test these hypotheses and to better define the expected impacts of rapid environmental change on the health and well being of honey bees and other pollinators essential to global food security.