Researchers tested whether giving honey bees vitamin supplements would help them live longer and stay healthier. They studied over 3,300 bees during summer and winter, giving some bees vitamins A through B12 at different amounts, while others got regular sugar water or pollen. Surprisingly, the vitamin supplements didn’t make much difference to how long the bees lived or how much they weighed. However, bees that had access to pollen did live longer and weigh more. The study suggests that while vitamins might seem important, natural pollen is what really matters for bee health.

The Quick Take

  • What they studied: Whether adding vitamin supplements to bee food would help bees live longer and stay healthier, and whether summer and winter bees respond differently to vitamins.
  • Who participated: 3,328 honey bees total—some tested in summer and some in winter. The bees were kept in laboratory cages with different food options to see how they responded.
  • Key finding: Vitamin supplements at any dose didn’t significantly improve bee lifespan or weight. However, bees given access to pollen lived noticeably longer and weighed more than bees without it.
  • What it means for you: If you keep bees, focus on providing good pollen sources rather than spending money on vitamin supplements. The research suggests natural pollen is more important for bee health than added vitamins, though more research in real-world conditions is needed.

The Research Details

Scientists designed a careful experiment where they gave different groups of bees eight different food combinations. Some bees got just sugar water, some got sugar water plus pollen, and others got sugar water with different amounts of vitamin supplements—with or without pollen added. They tested 64 cages of bees in each season (summer and winter), with 26 bees per cage. This setup allowed them to compare how bees responded to vitamins versus pollen, and whether summer and winter bees behaved differently.

The researchers measured three main things: how much food the bees ate, how much the bees weighed, and how long they lived. They used a ‘fully-crossed design,’ which is a fancy way of saying they tested every possible combination of conditions to make sure they could fairly compare the results.

The vitamins tested included the full range that bees might need: vitamins A, D, E, K, C, and all the B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B8, B9, and B12). They tested three different amounts of these vitamins to see if more was better.

This research approach is important because beekeepers often add vitamin supplements to their feeding programs, assuming it will help their colonies stay healthy. However, nobody had carefully tested whether these vitamins actually work. By testing multiple vitamin doses and comparing them to pollen, the researchers could figure out what really matters for bee health. Testing both summer and winter bees was also important because these bees naturally live very different lifespans in nature.

The study is well-designed with a large sample size (over 3,300 bees), which makes the results more reliable. The researchers tested multiple vitamin doses and included proper control groups (bees with no supplements). However, the study was done in laboratory cages, which is a limitation—real bees in nature live in different conditions, so the results might not perfectly match what happens in actual hives. The researchers themselves noted this concern and suggested that better laboratory conditions might be needed in the future.

What the Results Show

The main finding was surprising: none of the vitamin supplements—at any of the three doses tested—made a significant difference in how long the bees lived, how much they weighed, or how much food they ate. This held true for both summer and winter bees. The researchers found some patterns in how much food bees consumed at different vitamin levels, but these patterns didn’t translate into real health benefits.

The standout result was about pollen. Bees that had access to pollen—whether or not they also got vitamins—consistently lived longer and weighed more than bees without pollen. This was true in both summer and winter. The difference was clear and measurable: pollen made a real difference, while vitamins did not.

Another unexpected finding was that summer bees actually lived longer than winter bees in the laboratory setting. In nature, winter bees live much longer than summer bees, so this laboratory result doesn’t match real-world observations. This suggests that the laboratory environment might not be perfectly mimicking natural conditions.

The researchers noticed that bees showed different patterns of food consumption depending on the vitamin dose, but these consumption patterns didn’t lead to better health outcomes. This suggests that bees might be able to sense different vitamin levels and adjust how much they eat, but that this adjustment doesn’t help them. The study also confirmed that pollen is a complete food source for bees—it contains proteins, fats, and other nutrients that sugar water alone cannot provide.

This study fills an important gap in bee nutrition research. While scientists have long known that pollen is important for bees, very few studies have directly tested whether vitamin supplements help. The finding that pollen matters more than added vitamins aligns with what beekeepers have observed in practice—that colonies with good pollen sources tend to be healthier. However, this is one of the first studies to test this directly with controlled experiments.

The biggest limitation is that the study was done in laboratory cages, not in real hives. Laboratory conditions are much simpler and more controlled than nature, which might affect how bees respond to food. The study only lasted a few weeks, so it couldn’t measure long-term effects. Additionally, the laboratory results for summer versus winter bees didn’t match what happens in nature, suggesting the lab environment might not be ideal for studying these differences. Finally, the study tested one specific multivitamin formulation—different vitamin combinations or sources might produce different results.

The Bottom Line

Based on this research, beekeepers should prioritize ensuring their colonies have access to good pollen sources rather than investing in vitamin supplements. This could mean planting bee-friendly flowers, avoiding pesticides that reduce pollen availability, or providing pollen supplements during times when natural pollen is scarce. If you do use supplements, focus on pollen-based products rather than vitamin-only products. Confidence level: Moderate—this study provides good evidence, but more research in real hive conditions would strengthen these recommendations.

This research is most relevant to beekeepers and bee farmers who manage colonies. It’s also useful for anyone involved in bee conservation or urban beekeeping. The findings suggest that backyard beekeepers might be wasting money on vitamin supplements when they could instead focus on creating good foraging environments. However, these results apply specifically to honey bees and may not apply to other bee species.

If you switch from vitamin supplements to ensuring good pollen access, you might see improvements in colony strength within a few weeks to a few months, depending on the season and local flowering plants. The benefits of pollen access appear relatively quick based on this study, but long-term colony health improvements would take a full season or longer to fully evaluate.

Want to Apply This Research?

  • Track your bee colony’s pollen stores weekly by noting the amount of pollen visible on frames (using a simple scale: none, light, moderate, heavy). Also record any vitamin or pollen supplements you provide and the date. This creates a simple log to correlate pollen availability with colony strength.
  • Instead of adding vitamin supplements to your bee feed, commit to planting at least three bee-friendly flowering plants in your area or removing one pesticide from your property. Use the app to set reminders for seasonal planting times and track which plants your bees visit most.
  • Create a monthly checklist in the app to assess: (1) visible pollen stores in hives, (2) local flowering plants in bloom, (3) colony population strength, and (4) any supplements provided. Compare months with high pollen availability to months with low availability to see the real-world impact on your colonies.

This research was conducted in laboratory settings and may not fully reflect conditions in natural hives or outdoor apiaries. The findings suggest that pollen is more important than vitamin supplements for honey bee health, but individual colonies may have different nutritional needs based on their environment and season. Before making changes to your bee feeding program, consult with a local beekeeper association or agricultural extension office familiar with your specific region and climate. This information is for educational purposes and should not replace professional beekeeping advice. If your colonies show signs of disease or poor health, contact a bee health specialist or veterinarian.