• Preface

1. Macronutrients of Bee Foods
   1. Introduction
   2. Proteins
      1. Basic Classification of Proteins
      2. Determination of Protein Content in Bee Body and Pollen
      3. Assessment of the Biological Value of Proteins
      4. Amino Acids
      5. Pollen
         1. Pollen Structure and Chemical Composition
         2. Essential Amino Acids of Bee Collected Pollen
         3. Honey bee Protein and Essential Amino-Acid / Carbohydrate Balance
         4. Crude Protein Levels in Pollen Quality Assessment
         5. Crude Protein Levels in Some Pollens
      6. Bee Bread
   3. Carbohydrates
      1. Basic Classification and Chemical Properties of Natural Carbohydrates
         1. Monosaccharides
         2. Oligosaccharides
         3. Polysaccharides
      2. Nectar
      3. Honeydew
      4. Plant Toxins in Bee Foods
      5. Honey Bee Resistance to Toxins
   4. Lipids
      1. Basic Classification of Lipids
      2. Lipids of Honey Bee Body and Pollen
      3. Wax
2. Water
   1. Introduction
   2. Water as “Macro” Nutrient
   3. Honey Bee Water Demand, Turnover and Balance
3. The Micronutrients of Bee Food
   1. Introduction
   2. Resin
      1. Propolis
      2. Propolis as Natural Supplement of Honey Bee Foods
      3. Propolis as Honey Bee Health Protectant
   3. Vitamins
      1. Basic Classification of Vitamins
      2. Biological Impact of Vitamins on Honey Bees
      3. The Main Sources of Vitamins for Honey Bees
      4. Vitamin Supplements of Honey Bee Diet
   4. Dietary Elements
      1. Dietary elements in Honey
      2. Dietary elements in Pollen
4. General View of the Honey Bee Alimentary Tract (Gut)
   1. Introduction
   2. Gut Microbiota
      1. Basic Classification and Properties of Gut Symbiotic Bacteria
         1. Probiotic Effects of Gut Microbiota
   3. Basic Anatomy and Activities of Honey Bee Gut
      1. Mouth and Associated Glands
      2. Salivary Glands
      3. Postgenal and Sublingual Glands
      4. Mandibular Glands
      5. Hypopharyngeal Glands
         1. Bee Milk
            1. Royal Jelly
            2. Worker Jelly versus Royal Jelly
      6. Diet Determinants of Caste Development
      7. Oesophagus
      8. Crop
      9. Proventriculus
      10. Ventriculus
      11. Pylorus
      12. Ileum
      13. Rectum
   4. The Digestion and Absorption of Macronutrients
      1. Introduction
      2. The Digestion and Absorption of Proteins
      3. The Digestion and Absorption of Sugars
         1. Carbohydrates
      4. The Digestion and Absorption of Lipids
5. The Fat Body
   1. Introduction
   2. The Basic Fat Body Structure and Activities
      1. Fat body and Honey Bee Immunity
         1. Vitellogenin
      2. Storage and Mobilization of Nutrients
      3. Energy-Releasing Pathways
         1. Calculation of the Energy Content of the Honey Bee Diet
         2. The Storage and Utilization of Proteins and Amino Acids
         3. The Storage and Utilization of Carbohydrates
            1. Shivering Thermogenesis
         4. The Storage and Utilization of Lipids
6. Malpighi Tubules
7. Shortage of Food in a Honey Bee Colony
8. Complementary Feeding of Honey Bee Colonies
   1. Carbohydrate Supplemental Foods
      1. Honey
      2. Sucrose
         1. Main Food Sugars Solubility and Crystalization
      3. Invert Sugar
      4. Isoglucose (HFCS)
      5. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)
      6. Carbohydrate Feeding – Technical Remarks
         1. Spring Feeding
         2. Summer Feeding
         3. Autumn Feeding
         4. Winter Feeding
         5. Sugar Syrup
         6. Granulated Sugar
         7. Sugar Candies
   2. Protein Supplemental Foods
      1. Conserved Pollen
         1. Dried Pollen
         2. Pollen Flooding in Honey
         3. Frozen Pollen
         4. Lyophylized Pollen
      2. Conserved Bee Bread
      3. Soybean Flour
      4. Yeasts, Brans and Gluten
      5. Other Plant and Animal Protein Sources
      6. Protein Feeding – Technical Remarks
         1. Features Reflecting the Quality of Protein Supplemental Foods
         2. Brood Builders
            1. Pollen/Bee Bread
            2. Dry Feed
            3. Patties
            4. Candy Board Cake
            5. Liquid Amino Acid and Protein Supplements

• References

Reviewed by John Phipps The Beekeepers Quarterly No. 135, March 2019

In "Honey Bee Colony Health: Challenges and Sustainable Solutions" edited by Diana Sammataro and Jay Yoder (2011), the first chapter, written by Diana Sammataro, gives an excellent account of the importance of micro organisms (fauna and flora) in the bees digestive system, and how their presence, abundance and variety has an impact on the general health of the honey bee. She points out that without the right balance of micro-organisms, the bees' immune systems struggle to cope with a poor diet (often based on moral floral sources of food), the increasing use of pesticides on what they eat, and their exposure to a wide range of pests and diseases - in other words the many stresses they are subjected to in the industrialised beekeeping of today.

Dr Lipininski's excellent book covers all aspects of honey bee nutrition; every item consumed by the bee has been studied meticulously as well as the organs of the digestive system which are responsible for their processing. It is a scholarly well-researched, academic work (there are nearly 100 pages of references), the result of forty years of work by the author in both his laboratories and apiaries. Whilst this study will be of major interest to other beekeeping scientists and those working towards higher levels of beekeeping courses, those with a less scientific background will gain much from the book for throughout its pages highlighted sentences serve as summaries of what has previously been covered. Also, most helpfully, the Preface gives a clear outline of the book's contents as well as explaining why beekeepers should have a good overall understanding of honey bee nutrition.

There are eight chapters:

• Macronutrients of Bee Foods
• Water
• The Micronutrients of Bee Food
• General View of the Honey Bee Alimentary Tract (Gut)
• The Fat Body
• Malpighi Tubules
• Shortage of Food in a Honey Bee Colony
• Complimentary Feeding of Honey Bee Colonies

Each chapter contains numerous charts (for instance, nearly three pages in Chapter 1 on pollens and their relative value to bees according to their crude pollen content) and colour photos, all of which have been taken by the author.

I found the section on jelly of great interest - royal, worker and drone jelly and how they differed whether being used for larval feeding or adult. As regards caste determination, it is fascinating to learn that the rapid growth of the queen larva is down to greed; being richer in sugar than worker jelly, the queen is stimulated to gorge on it and thus rapidly fills her large cell (a trait, perhaps, similar to humans who have a sweet tooth).

Most importantly, the book has practical lessons that can be learned by the beekeeper. Not only about the importance of keeping bees in habitats in which they can thrive, but also how to deal with the problem of starving colonies, plus a guide to supplementary feeds should the beekeeper need to make use of them.

It is a fascinating book well worth studying in full, rich in detail, yet highly readable. It is said that "We are What we Eat" -the same applies to honey bees and, like humans, the wrong diet for them, we are warned, can lead to all sorts of problems concerning health, welfare and life itself.