We evaluated the microalga Arthrospira platensis (commonly called spirulina), as a pollen substitute for honey bees. Nutritional analyses indicated that spirulina is rich in essential amino acids and a wide variety of functional lipids (i.e., phospholipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and sterols) common in pollen. Feeding bioassays were used to compare dry and fresh laboratory-grown spirulina with bee-collected pollen and a commercial pollen substitute using sucrose syrup as a control. Diets were fed ad libitum as a paste to newly emerged bees in cages (10–13 cage replicates) and bees were sampled at days 5 and 10 for physiological and molecular measurements. Spirulina diets produced biomarker profiles (thorax weight, head protein content, and beneficial gut bacteria abundance) that were indicative of elevated nutritional states, meeting or exceeding the other diets in some metrics despite reduced consumption. Furthermore, spirulina diets led to significantly increased fat body lipid content and mRNA levels of the central storage lipoprotein vitellogenin. We conclude that spirulina has significant potential as a pollen substitute or prebiotic diet additive to improve honey bee health.

中文翻译：

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微藻节旋藻（螺旋藻）对蜜蜂的营养和益生元功效

我们评估了微藻节旋藻（通常称为螺旋藻）作为蜜蜂的花粉替代品。营养分析表明，螺旋藻富含必需氨基酸和花粉中常见的多种功能性脂质（即磷脂、多不饱和脂肪酸和甾醇）。饲养生物测定用于比较干燥和新鲜实验室培养的螺旋藻与蜜蜂收集的花粉和使用蔗糖糖浆作为对照的商业花粉替代品。将饲料作为糊状物随意喂给笼中新出现的蜜蜂（10-13 个笼子重复），并在第 5 天和第 10 天对蜜蜂进行采样以进行生理和分子测量。螺旋藻饮食产生的生物标志物特征（胸重、头部蛋白质含量和有益肠道细菌丰度）表明营养状态升高，尽管减少了消费，但在某些指标上达到或超过了其他饮食。此外，螺旋藻饮食导致脂肪体脂质含量和中央储存脂蛋白卵黄蛋白原的 mRNA 水平显着增加。我们得出的结论是，螺旋藻作为花粉替代品或益生元饮食添加剂具有改善蜜蜂健康的巨大潜力。