THE SUPERBOOST SAGA: DEVELOPMENT

OF A NEW PRODUCT BASED ON THE

HONEY BEE BROOD PHEROMONE

John H. Borden

Chief Scientific Officer

Contech Enterprises Inc.

OUTLINE

• Brood pheromone:

how it works

• Product development

and testing

• Product improvement

• Revitalization of overwintered colonies

• Honey yield and economics

• Future prospects

BROOD PHEROMONE:

HOW IT WORKS

• Blend of 10 fatty-acid

esters.

• Produced in salivary

glands of honey bee

drone, worker, and

queen larvae.

• Pheromone tells

workers we are here

and we are hungry.

Yves LeConte

INRA, Avingon

BROOD PHEROMONE

PRIMES THE PUMP

• Sustained exposure causes

enriched protein content in the

hypopharyngeal and

mandibular glands.

• This leads to better nutrition of

both larvae and the queen.

• In turn, this results in more

vigorous larvae and greater

oviposition by the queen.

Tanya Pankiw

Texas A&M

SYNTHETIC BROOD

PHEROMONE MODIFIES

BEHAVIOR

• Up to 150% more pollen

foragers.

• Greater pollen loads returned

to the hive.

• More nectar foragers.

• More frequent foraging trips.

• Greater consumption of

supplementary protein and

sugar in winter.

Almost……...But it took four long years

while we:

• learned how tostabilize the pheromone by

adding a food-grade antioxidant,

• demonstrated durable stability, and

• experimented with 13 potential release devices

before we found one that worked.

LUCKY 13!

• Pouch has polyethylene

release membrane

and Mylar backing.

• Non-volatile pheromone

exudes through membrane

at ca. 0.3 mg per day.

• Removal of pheromone allows more to exude.

• Device (SuperBoost) suspended between

frames by wire or plastic holder.

SUPERBOOST PROTOTYPE HAD SAME

EFFECT AS SYNTHETIC PHEROME

Texas A&M Experiment

September-October 2007

• More pollen foragers.

• More pollen brought

back to the hive.

• More adults.

• More brood.

WE’RE THERE!

(or so we thought……..)

Onour Moeri and John Borden

2008 Langley Bee Club

Fall Symposium

• No increase in brood

or adult population after

105 days.

• No positive effect on

foraging.

• Only a little positive feedback from users of

SuperBoost around the world.

• We promised to return.

After the 2008 Fall Symposium..........

Mike Campbell, our collaborating

beekeeper, reported

- honey harvest two weeks earlier in

SuperBoost-treated colonies, and

- double the honey harvest from treated

colonies (pooled, no statisical analysis)

This gave us hope

through the winter.

DURING THE WINTER………………

We examined the

product very carefully,

looking for ways in

which its performance

could be improved.

SEARCH FOR THE

MAGIC BULLET

• Compared commercial device stored at

room temperature to freshly-loaded device.

• Measured brood pheromone release

rates by wiping and gas chromatographic

analysis of removed pheromone.

SuperBoost devices stored at room temperature

did not perform as expected.

HYPOTHESIS

The polyethylene membrane becomes fouled

during storage at ambient temperature.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION

Freeze device after

manufacturing and store

in freezer.

Freezing SuperBoost eliminates the problem.

Shipping SuperBoost unfrozen for short periods

will not affect performance.

We were so proud of our

first holder, but it………..

• melted in exuded

pheromone

• required too many steps

to assemble and insert,

• jammed when inserted,

and

• hung at an angle so that

one side was against the

comb.

Our new holder is easy to assemble and insert, does not

melt in exuded pheromone, and wiggles or rotates against

comb with pheromone membrane exposed.

REVITALIZATION OF OVERWINTERED

COLONIES

Hypothesis. In the absence of pheromone-

producing larvae, SuperBoost should stimulate

feeding on pollen substitute placed in hives to

revitalize colonies as spring approaches.

• 12 randomly-selected

colonies received two 5-week

treatments of SuperBoost,

starting on 4 Feb 09.

• 12 untreated control

colonies.

• Surplus of pollen substitute

patties (Bee-Pro®) and sugar

was provided.

• Single blind experiment.

• Bee-Pro® consumption

weighed 9 times.

• Brood comb area and adult

population size determined

on Days 16 and 70.

• Splits made on Days 50, 83-85

and 94. Daughter colonies

evaluated with mothers.

• SuperBoost retrieved on

Days 37 and 70. Pheromone

release determined by

weight loss.

SUPERBOOST RELEASED MORE PHEROMONE

THAN LARVAE

• 0.4 mg (661 larval equivalents) per day for first

37 days.

• 0.5 mg (964 larval equivalents) per day for next

33 days.

• On Day 16, there were on

average 131 larvae

per colony.

SuperBoost-treated colonies consumed 50%

more Bee-Pro® by Day 70.

On Day 16 there was no significant difference

between SuperBoost-treated and untreated

control colonies in:

• brood comb area, and

• adult population level.

SuperBoost-treated colonies had a 216% greater

brood comb area by Day 70.

SuperBoost-treated colonies had a 178% larger adult

population by Day 70 and 5 more splits by Day 94.

Population size

on Day 16 was a

better predictor

of brood comb

area and adult

population size

on Day 70 for

SuperBoost-

treated colonies

than for control

colonies.

COLONIES AVAILABLE FOR

POLLINATION SERVICES

• 11 surviving control colonies produced

4 daughters, resulting in 15 colonies by

Day 96.

• 10 surviving colonies treated with

SuperBoost produced 9 daughters,

resulting in 19 colonies by Day 96.

ECONOMIC BENEFIT TO BEEKEEPER

• Pollination fee (Oregon, 2007, 2.5 crops/colony)

$177/colony.

• 4 extra colonies provide $708 or $59 per

colony (N = 12).

• Cost of 2 treatments with SuperBoost,

$5 + $1 x 2 = $12/colony.

• Net return is

$59 - $12 = $47/colony.

• Possibly better

pollination and more

honey later in year.

HONEY

PRODUCTION

Hypothesis. If brood

pheromone stimulates

foraging for both pollen and

nectar, then sustained

treatment with SuperBoost

should result in greater

yield of honey over the

summer.

EXPERIMENTAL DESCRIPTION

• Started with identical 2 lb.

NZ packages.

• 54 colonies untreated

controls, 47 (87%)

survived, 2 splits.

• 59 colonies treated with

SuperBoost, 50 (85%)

survived, 4 splits.

• 3 treatment dates (April 30,

June 3, July 20)

• Weighed all honey harvested.

• Evaluated adult and brood populations,

and honey comb area at end of summer.

End of summer, 30% more adults (Sept 09)

Means + SE

Economic benefit (USD) to the beekeeper

NEW COLONIES FROM PACKAGES

CRITERION

VALUE-

ADDED

PRODUCERCOMMODITY

PRODUCER

Honey price (est.) $6.00/lb $1.35/lb

Increased

production/colony (112%)

4.33 lb 4.33 lb

Value of increase $25.98 $5.85

Cost of SuperBoost at

$5.00/unit = ($5 + $1) x 2

$12.00 $12.00

Net gain or loss/colony $13.98 -$6.15

Economic benefit to the beekeeper

NEW COLONIES FROM PACKAGES

Caveats

• Added benefits: probably better pollination of

target crops, higher adult population, colonies

better prepared for winter.

• Economic benefit would

increase if only one

treatment needed.

Economic benefit (USD) to the beekeeper

ESTABLISHED COLONIES

CRITERION

VALUE-

ADDED

PRODUCERCOMMODITY

PRODUCER

Honey price (est.) $6.00/lb $1.35/lb

Increased production per

colony (75%, 2 yr,

pumpkins, Alabama)

18.75 lb 18.75 lb

Value of increase $112.50 $25.31

Cost of SuperBoost at

$5.00/unit = $5 + $1

$6.00 $6.00

Net gain or loss/colony $106.50 $19.31

Economic benefit to the beekeeper

ESTABLISHED COLONIES

Caveats

• Probable added benefits in better pollination of

target crops, and colonies better prepared for

winter.

• Maximum economic benefit

would occur if only one

treatment needed.

What’s cooking? In 2009

experiments:

• 70% higher visitation of male

flowers in seed carrot fields

pollinated by SuperBoost

treated colonies. Greater crop

yield?

• In fall feeding experiment in

two locations, more diet

consumed, higher brood

comb area and more adults.

Better overwintering survival?

Ramesh Sagili

Oregon State

University

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

• SuperBoost is on the market now.

• Research will continue in BC,

Oregon, California, Alabama

(and elsewhere?).

• Ultimately it will be up to each

beekeeper to determine his/her best

use of SuperBoost.

• We wish you every success in your

journey.

Special Thanks

Cameron Lait

Onour Moeri

Ervin Kovacs

Mike Campbell

Stephen Jones