Feeding the disease - Understanding the relationship between nutritional supplement and Nosema lethality
Data files
May 20, 2026 version files 50.48 KB
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NutritionalSupplementSpores_fin.csv
21.48 KB
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NutritionalSupplementSurvival_fin.csv
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README.md
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Abstract
These datasets support the analyses presented in the manuscript “Feeding the disease: the impact of nutritional supplementation on Nosema (Vairimorpha) infection in honey bees (Apis mellifera)”
The repository includes two primary datasets:
- Survival data used for Cox proportional hazards analyses of mortality risk.
- Spore load data used for generalized linear mixed modelling of infection intensity.
Together, these datasets enable full reproduction of the survival and infection intensity analyses reported in the manuscript.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1c59zw4bv
Description of the data and file structure
Files and variables
File: NutritionalSupplementSpores_fin.csv
Description: Individual‑level Nosema infection intensity data for honey bees subjected to dietary and infection treatments. This file contains spore counts measured microscopically for all bees at the end of the experiment, including uninfected controls.
Variables
- BeeCode:Unique identifier for each individual honey bee.
- PotCode:Identifier for the cage (pot) in which each bee was housed.
- Diet:Dietary treatment. Levels:
basic(50% sucrose only) orenriched(sucrose plus pollen substitute). - Infection:Infection status. Levels:
Nosema(inoculated) orsham(control). - Treatment:Combined diet × infection treatment group (e.g.
basic-Nosema,enriched-sham). - Hive :Source colony identifier (integer 1–4).
- Susceptibility:Binary indicator of infection outcome (1 = infected, 0 = uninfected).
- SporesPerBee:Total Nosema spore count per bee measured by haemocytometer (number of spores).
- MillionSporesPerBee:Total Nosema spore count per bee expressed in millions of spores.
File: NutritionalSupplementSurvival_fin.csv
Description: Individual‑level survival data for honey bees monitored daily for nine days following dietary treatment and Nosema inoculation.
Variables
- BeeCode:Unique identifier for each individual honey bee.
- PotCode:Identifier for the cage (pot) in which each bee was housed.
- Diet:Dietary treatment. Levels:
basicorenriched. - Infection:Infection status. Levels:
Nosemaorsham. - Hive :Source colony identifier (integer 1–4).
- Treatment :Combined diet × infection treatment group.
- Day_0:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_1:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_2:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_3:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_4:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_5:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_6:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_7:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_8:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Day_9:Daily survival indicators (1 = alive, 0 = dead) for each day post‑treatment.
- Event:Mortality event indicator (1 = death occurred during experiment, 0 = censored).
- Dod:Day of death or censoring (post‑treatment days).
Code/software
All data files are provided in comma‑separated value (.csv) format and can be viewed using any spreadsheet software or imported into statistical software such as R or Python.
The data were collected from a controlled laboratory experiment designed to test how dietary enrichment influences survival and Nosema infection outcomes in honey bees (Apis mellifera). Newly emerged worker bees were obtained from four Nosema‑free source colonies and randomly assigned to a fully factorial design crossing diet (basic sucrose vs sucrose supplemented with a commercial pollen substitute) and infection status (Nosema‑inoculated vs sham control). Bees were individually inoculated, maintained in cohort cages under controlled environmental conditions, and monitored daily for survival over nine days. At the end of the experiment, all bees were dissected and Nosema infection intensity was quantified microscopically by spore counts. Data were collected at the individual level to assess both mortality risk and parasite replication across treatments.