Dietary chokeberry ( <i>Aronia melanocarpa</i> ) supplementation improves colony development, nutritional status, antioxidant defences, and honey production in honey bee colonies

This study evaluated the effects of chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) fruit powder as a functional dietary supplement for honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies, focusing on colony development, antioxidant defences, nutritional status, behaviour, and honey yield under field conditions. A total of 48 colonies were randomly assigned to four feeding treatments (control, 2, 5, and 10 g L−1 chokeberry supplementation), with six colonies per treatment in each apiary (n = 6 per apiary; n = 12 per treatment). The experiment was conducted as a balanced field trial across two apiaries. Colonies were fed sucrose syrup supplemented with chokeberry powder for 21 days. Following the feeding period, colonies were transferred to two high-altitude summer apiaries where colony development, flight activity, defensive behaviour, antioxidant biomarkers, and end-of-season honey yield were evaluated. Results demonstrated that chokeberry supplementation significantly improved colony development, with significant dose effects on brood area and bee-covered frames (both p < 0.001). Flight activity also increased with supplementation dose (p < 0.001), whereas defensive behaviour was not affected. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activity, and haemolymph total protein concentration all increased significantly with supplementation (all p < 0.001). End-of-season honey yield was significantly higher in supplemented colonies than in the control group (p < 0.001). Overall, these findings demonstrate that chokeberry fruit powder represents a promising functional dietary supplement capable of improving colony performance through the combined contribution of its nutritional composition and bioactive phytochemicals under practical field conditions.