Honey bees overwintering in a southern climate: longitudinal effects of nutrition and queen age on colony-level molecular physiology and performance.

ABSTRACT: Honey bee colony nutritional ecology relies on the acquisition and assimilation of floral resources across a landscape with changing forage conditions. Here, we examined the impact of nutrition and queen age on colony health across extended periods of reduced forage in a southern climate. We measured conventional hive metrics as well as colony-level gene expression of eight immune-related genes and three recently identified homologs of vitellogenin (vg), a storage glycolipoprotein central to colony nutritional state, immunity, oxidative stress resistance and life span regulation. Across three apiary sites, concurrent longitudinal changes in colony-level gene expression and nutritional state reflected the production of diutinus (winter) bees physiologically altered for long-term nutrient st

SUBMITTER: Ricigliano VA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6041268 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature