In a groundbreaking development poised to transform the future of pollination and agriculture, scientists have introduced a man-made food source designed to nourish honey bee colonies without the need for natural pollen.
This innovation could become a critical tool in addressing the persistent problem of declining bee populations and safeguarding the global food supply chain that relies heavily on these industrious pollinators.
A collaborative effort between researchers at Washington State University (WSU) and biotechnology firm APIX Biosciences in Belgium has led to this milestone. The newly developed bee feed, which resembles human “Power Bars,” is formulated with a balanced blend of essential nutrients required for the growth, health, and longevity of honey bee colonies.
The feed has already shown impressive success in real-world trials, where nutritionally stressed bee colonies tasked with pollinating crops in Washington state not only survived but thrived on this artificial food source.
The health of honey bees is intricately tied to their environment, and over the last several decades, pollinator habitats have been increasingly disrupted by urban development, changing agricultural practices, and extreme weather events driven by climate change. These factors have severely limited the diversity and availability of natural pollen sources that bees depend on.
“Honey bees are generalists and do not get all their nutrition from a single source,” explained Brandon Hopkins, a WSU Professor of Pollinator Ecology, in a media release. “They need variety in their diet to survive but find it increasingly difficult to find the continuous supply of pollen they need to sustain the colony.”
This nutritional stress has contributed to the troubling phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, where entire colonies vanish or die off unexpectedly, putting crops and ecosystems at risk. Until now, honey bees were among the only domesticated livestock species without a reliable man-made feed alternative, leaving beekeepers with few options when natural forage was scarce.
“Until this study, honey bees were the only livestock that could not be maintained on a man-made feed,” noted Dr. Patrick Pilkington, CEO of APIX Biosciences US.
“The reported scientific work shows in commercial field conditions that providing nutritionally stressed colonies with our pollen-replacing feed results in a major measurable step change in colony health compared to current best practices. Our product has the potential to change the way honey bees are managed,” he added.
This remarkable advancement didn’t happen overnight. The research, recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, represents more than 10 years of painstaking work and international collaboration.
As Thierry Bogaert, the study’s lead author and chairman of APIX Biosciences, described, “The newly published work is the result of a herculean scientific effort of three teams.”
The teams included the founders and scientists at APIX Biosciences, who experimented with thousands of ingredient combinations over a decade; the WSU research group, which brought leading expertise in honey bee health and field trials; and experienced beekeepers in California, alongside extension services, who helped conduct extensive, science-based, large-scale field tests.
The coordination of those trials was managed by paper co-author Anne Marie Fauvel. A crucial finding within the study was the identification of a molecule called isofucosterol, naturally found in pollen, as a vital nutrient for honey bee health.
Colonies fed with the isofucosterol-enhanced food survived entire seasons without access to natural pollen. In stark contrast, colonies lacking this nutrient experienced significant declines in larval production, adult bee paralysis, and, in many cases, total colony collapse.
The new feed includes isofucosterol alongside a comprehensive mixture of other nutrients essential to honey bee biology, offering a complete substitute for natural pollen. To assess its effectiveness under demanding conditions, researchers deployed nutritionally stressed colonies to blueberry and sunflower fields—crops notorious for offering poor-quality pollen for bees.
The results were striking. Colonies receiving the new artificial food source exhibited markedly higher survival rates and stronger colony growth compared to those relying on conventional commercial feeds or no supplementation at all.
“Some beekeepers don’t pollinate blueberries anymore because colonies suffer or die and the pollination fees don’t cover the losses,” said WSU’s Prof. Hopkins, a co-author of the study.
“Blueberry pollen isn’t very nutritious for honey bees, and they aren’t adapted well to pollinating that crop. But if they have this supplemental food source, beekeepers may return to pollinating those fields since they know their bees are more likely to survive,” Hopkins explained.
Encouraged by these promising outcomes, the research and development teams are now collaborating closely with beekeepers across the United States to refine deployment strategies and ensure optimal results in various agricultural settings. The goal is to make the feed widely available to beekeepers by mid-2026.
Pilkington expressed confidence in the product’s future impact: “We are confident that the product will positively impact beekeepers and growers once it’s available to purchase in the U.S., which is targeted for mid-2026.”
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