EFFECT OF SOME FOOD ADDITIVES ON WORKERS an‎d QUEENS OF HONEY BEE (Apis mellifera L.)

Three different artificial diets containing gluten, black seed oil or vitamins were tested for their effects on midgut of honey bee nurse worker and some morphological queen parameters. There were large increases in size and number of columnar epithelial, regenerative cells and peritrophic membrane in case of vitamins and gluten fed workers. Black seed oil fed workers had slight effects compared with those fed on sugar syrup. Vitamins and gluten increased virgin queens emergence percents, body weight, abdominal length and width, number of ovarioles and ovary length and width.