Abstract:

Honeybees are important pollinators，and improving the immunity of bees is the foundation for ensuring the productivity of colonies. Astragalus polysaccharide is a natural bioactive plant extract with strong antioxidant capacity. Its application in livestock and poultry had significantly improve herd immunity. In order to investigate the effect of astragalus polysaccharide on the health of honey bees， astragalus polysaccharide was feed to 4 000 Chinese honey bee colonies in 5 major Chinese honeybee breeding counties in Gansu province. The incidence of diseases， colony size， swarming， honey yield，overwintering mortality rate and the effect on honey quality were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that， after feeding astragalus polysaccharide，the colony size increased rapidly， and the proportion of strong colonies above 5 frames increased by more than 1 time. During the honey flow period， the proportion of swarmed colonies decreased by 30%， the honey yield increased by 27%， and the overwintering mortality rate decreased by 40%. Meanwhile， the feeding of astragalus polysaccharide did not affect the quality of honey. It indicated that astragalus polysaccharide could improve the colony immunity， promote the colony development and increase the honey production. Above results were important for application the traditional Chinese patent medicines in preventing colony diseases and improving the colony immunity in honeybees.

Key words: honeybees, astragalus polysaccharide, immunity, colony size, honey yield

摘要：

蜜蜂是重要的授粉昆虫，提高蜂群免疫力是保证蜂群生产能力的基础。黄芪多糖是一种天然生物活性植物提取物，具有较强的抗氧化能力，在畜禽上应用可以显著提高群体免疫力。为探究黄芪多糖对中华蜜蜂蜂群健康的影响，在甘肃省5个中华蜜蜂养殖大县的4 000群中华蜜蜂中，通过对蜂群饲喂黄芪多糖，分析饲喂前后蜂群的发病情况、群势增长、分蜂、产蜜量、越冬死亡率及对蜂蜜品质的影响。结果表明，饲喂黄芪多糖后，蜂群群势增长加快，5脾以上强群占比提升超1倍；流蜜期蜂群分蜂比例下降30%，产蜜量增加27%，越冬死亡率下降40%。同时，黄芪多糖的使用没有对蜂蜜品质产生影响。以上结果表明，黄芪多糖可以提高蜂群免疫力，促进蜂群群势发展，提高产蜜量。研究结果对加强中成药防范蜂群病害、提高蜂群免疫力具有重要指导和借鉴意义。

关键词: 蜜蜂, 黄芪多糖, 免疫力, 群势, 产蜜量