Artificial “superfoods” that supply vital nutrients for honeybees indicate that colonies could generate significantly more larvae, potentially addressing the worldwide decline in bee populations.

Bees rely on a diverse range of flower pollen to acquire essential nutrients, including crucial lipids known as sterols. Unfortunately, climate change and industrial farming practices often leave their habitats lacking the floral variety necessary for their survival. “For crops to be pollinated, you need more bees, but they have less food,” says Geraldine Light from Oxford University.

In response to this, beekeepers are increasingly providing artificial pollen substitutes. Yet, the common commercial supplements, typically made from protein powders, sugars, and oils, are deficient in the necessary sterol compounds, rendering them nutritionally inadequate.

Through CRISPR gene editing, Wright and her team developed the yeast Yarrowia Lipolytica to manufacture the precise blend of six essential sterols that bees require. This yeast was included in the diet of bee colonies during a three-month feeding trial conducted in a controlled glasshouse.

At the conclusion of the study, colonies fed the sterol-enhanced yeast produced up to 15 times more larvae reaching the viable pupal stage than those receiving standard commercial bee feed.

Colonies on a sterol-rich diet maintained their egg and larval production throughout the 90-day period, while those with sterol-deficient diets experienced a significant decline in chick production before the study’s conclusion.

“Our technology enables beekeepers to nourish their bees alongside pollen,” Wright explains. “When integrated with pollen alternatives that are optimized with other nutrients, honeybees can develop healthier, more robust, and longer-lasting colonies.”

This yeast can also be utilized to formulate essential nutrients for other farmed insects, which are becoming increasingly vital food sources for both humans and livestock, according to Wright.