title: Treatment with synthetic brood pheromone (SuperBoost) enhances honey production and improves overwintering survival of package honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies.
abstract: We evaluated a year-long treatment regime testing synthetic, 10-component, honey bee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), brood pheromone (SuperBoost; Contech Enterprises Inc., Delta, BC, Canada) on the productivity and vigor of package bee colonies in the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Fifty-eight newlyestablished 1.3-kg (3-lb) colonies treated three times with SuperBoost at 5-wk intervals starting 30 April 2009 were compared with 52 untreated control colonies. Treated colonies produced 84.3% more honey than untreated control colonies. By 8 September 2009, SuperBoost-treated colonies had 35.4% more adults than untreated colonies. By 28 September, net survival of treated and control colonies was 72.4 and 67.3%, respectively. On 5 October, treated and control colonies were divided into two additional groups, making up four cohorts: SuperBoost-treated colonies treated again during fall and spring build-up feeding with pollen substitute diet (BeePro, Mann Lake Ltd., Hackensack, MN; TIT); controls that remained untreated throughout the year (CCC); colonies treated with SuperBoost in spring-summer 2009 but not treated thereafter (TCC); and original control colonies treated with SuperBoost during the fall and spring build-up feeding periods (CTT). There was no difference among cohorts in consumption of BeePro during fall feeding, but TTT colonies (including daughter colonies split off from parent colonies) consumed 50.8% more diet than CCC colonies during spring build-up feeding. By 21 April, the normalized percentages of the original number of colonies remaining (dead colonies partially offset by splits) were as follows: CCC, 31.4%; CTT, 43.8%; TCC, 53.59%; and TTT, 80.0%. The net benefit of placing 100 newly established package bee colonies on a year-long six-treatment regime with SuperBoost would be US$6,202 (US$62.02 per colony). We conclude that treatment with SuperBoost enhanced the productivity and survival of package bee colonies and hypothesize that similar results could be achieved with established colonies.
authors.affiliation: Contech Enterprises Inc., 7572 Progress Way, Delta, BC V4G 1E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Cameron G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lait
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Borden
authors.forename: Ervin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kovacs
authors.forename: Onour E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Moeri
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Cristina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Machial
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056630:Beekeeping / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D001516:Bees / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D006722:Honey; D009922:Oregon; D010675:Pheromones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones