CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage Application of International Patent Application No. PCT/GB2016/053573, filed Nov. 16, 2016, which claims the benefit of Great Britain Patent Application No. 1520144.5, filed Nov. 16, 2015, the disclosures each of which is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to compositions, methods and products for providing nutrition to insects such as bees, e.g., honey bees. Certain embodiments of the present invention also relate to methods of providing nutrition to bees e.g., colonies of bees together with methods of preparing a composition for providing nutrition to bees.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Domesticated honeybees are important for world agriculture as pollinators of crops. They are also kept for the production of honey, wax, and royal jelly for human use. Commercial beekeeping operations rear millions of colonies every year for transport to areas of intense cultivation of soft fruit and nut crops throughout the world. Commercially-reared bumblebee colonies have been in production for the past 30 years. Bumblebees were domesticated to meet the need for pollination services of glasshouse-grown crops such as tomatoes that require pollination to set fruit. The demand for pollination services has expanded with the need to provide food for the growing world human population.

Historically, honeybee keepers have relied on natural forage for bees provided by floral nectar and pollen to supply the nutrition of their colonies. However, several factors have limited their ability to feed large bee populations required for pollination services. Of greatest impact has been the conversion of natural landscapes with diverse flora to urban or agricultural use, limiting the flowering plants available to feed bee populations. Commercial honeybee keepers transport hives to orchards for pollination services during winter, just prior to crop bloom and other forms of spring forage. In these conditions (e.g., almond orchards), bee colonies are in high density but have few natural resources. Without pollen to feed brood, honeybee colonies struggle to grow quickly enough to perform sufficient pollination services to crops. Furthermore, crops are often monocultures. Monocultures may provide pollen, but this pollen is unlikely to be a complete source of essential nutrients needed for growth and maintenance of honeybees.

Honeybees and other bee species collect pollen from flowers to obtain protein, fats, sterols, vitamins, and minerals. They also collect floral nectar, aphid honeydew, and other sugar sources like tree sap to provide them with carbohydrates. Both adult and larval stages depend on pollen and nectar for nourishment. Their metabolism is biased very strongly towards the need for carbohydrates and they also have unique needs for dietary sterols which are not common to other insects outside of the Hymenoptera.

Researchers have studied bee nutrition for over 100 years, but no one has been able to replicate the nutrition provided by multiple and diverse sources of floral pollen collected by naturally foraging honeybees. The most common way to feed honeybees during periods when they cannot obtain sufficient pollen is to add pollen substitutes to the colony in the form of a patty or a solution. These substitutes are typically composed of plant (e.g. soy or corn gluten) and/or animal proteins (e.g. whole eggs), oils, and brewer's yeast.

Most pollen supplement or substitute formulations are unpalatable to bees and provide inadequate nutrition. For this reason, existing supplements require the addition of floral, bee-collected pollen to make them attractive and usable for long periods of time. There are other problems with pollen substitutes added to honeybee colonies. For example, these mixtures also contain chemical compounds that are toxic or have negative impacts on honeybee metabolism. In addition, many bee food formulations contain proteins and other compounds that bees cannot digest. Furthermore, some commercially available formulations contain very high concentrations of protein which have been shown to reduce worker bee lifespan. Indeed, the negative impact of feeding honeybees with incorrectly formulated pollen substitutes in commercial beekeeping operations has been argued as one of the contributing factors to colony losses in the USA and elsewhere in the world. These supplements may also cause poor foraging performance and, therefore, inadequate pollination services in the bees that survive.

Bumblebee colony producers exclusively use honeybee collected pollen pellets as their source of pollen for colony production. This makes the bumblebee production industry entirely reliant on a food source collected by foraging honeybee colonies. Problems with this include the potential exposure of bumblebees to parasites and pathogens that infect honeybee colonies. It also means that bumblebee producers have little control over the quality of the food they provide.

It is an aim of aspects of the present invention to at least partially mitigate the problems associated with the prior art.

It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a composition which supplies insects e.g., honeybees, with all or substantially all of the nutrients required for survival, health, development and best foraging performance.

It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a composition which is a pollen supplement.

It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a composition which is a pollen substitute.

SUMMARY OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The composition of certain embodiments of the present invention includes a mixture of macronutrients and micronutrients as found in naturally-occurring floral pollen that provides the correct balance of nutrients for honeybees. In certain embodiments, the pollen substitute provides a source of nutrition that does not require the addition of floral pollen to make it palatable to bees, to sustain brood production, and provide them with key nutrients and their combinations that result in best foraging performance. This combination of traits—palatability, brood production, and ideal foraging and cognitive function—will hitherto be referred to as ‘improved bee performance.’

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a pollen substitute for use in honeybee colonies as a replacement for floral pollen.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a pollen supplement for use in honeybee colonies as an additive to floral pollen.

Certain embodiments of the invention specifically define the ratios of macronutrients and micronutrients that enable improved bee performance. Aptly, certain embodiments provide the proportions of proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates, and fats required by honeybees. Certain embodiments of the present invention also provide the amounts of essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids, carbohydrates, and fatty acids and the relative proportions of these classes of macronutrients needed for optimal performance in bee colonies.

In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composition for providing nutrition to bees, the composition comprising:a) at least one component which is a source of protein (P);b) at least one component which is a source of one or more fatty acids (FA); andc) at least one component which is a source of one or more carbohydrates (C), wherein the ratio of the source of protein and the source of one or more fatty acids in the composition is between about 1 (protein):10 (fatty acid) w/w and about 20 (protein):1 (fatty acid) w/w.

In certain embodiments, the ratio of the source of protein and the source of one or more fatty acids in the composition is between about 1 (protein):5 (fatty acid) w/w and about 20 (protein):1 (fatty acid) w/w. In certain embodiments, the ratio of the source of protein and the source of one or more fatty acids in the composition is between about 1 (protein):1 (fatty acid) w/w and about 20 (protein):1 (fatty acid) w/w.

In certain embodiments, the source of one or more fatty acids may be a source of fat. The source of fat may be a single component or a combination of components.

In certain embodiments, the composition comprises a component or plurality of components which is/are a source of essential fatty acids, linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA). In certain embodiments, the composition comprises linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid in a ratio of between about 5:1 (linoleic acid:α-linolenic acid) to 1:10 (linoleic acid:α-linolenic acid). Aptly, the composition comprises a low ratio of linoleic acid:α-linolenic acid. In certain embodiments, the ratio about 3:1 (linoleic acid:α-linolenic acid) to 1:3 (linoleic acid:α-linolenic acid). Aptly, the composition comprises a low ratio of linoleic acid:α-linolenic acid.

In certain embodiments, the ratio of the component which is a source of protein and the component which is a source of carbohydrate is between about 2 (protein):1 (carbohydrate) and about 1 (protein):10 (carbohydrate).

Further details of the composition are provided below.

In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product for providing nutrition to bees comprising a composition according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the product is solid. Aptly, the composition is:i) moist;ii) baked; and/oriii) powdered.

In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product for providing nutrition to bees comprising a composition according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the product is a liquid.

In a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing nutrition to a bee comprising:a) providing a composition according to the first aspect of the present invention or a product according to the second and/or third aspects of the present invention to a bee, wherein the bee is comprised in a colony of bees.

In a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of reducing bee mortality comprising;a) providing a composition according to the first aspect of the present invention or a product according to the second and/or third aspects of the present invention to a bee, wherein the bee is comprised in a colony of bees.

