Bee nutrition and floral resource restoration

Vaudo, Anthony D.; Tooker, John F.; Grozinger, Christina M.; Patch, Harland M.

doi:10.1016/j.cois.2015.05.008

Cited by 364 publications

(383 citation statements)

References 130 publications

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“…This lack of resources may reduce colony growth, health, and reproduction, negatively influencing long-term bee populations. Once we better understand pollen nutritional values across diverse, commercially available plant species, floral provisioning protocols could address nutritional shortcomings by restoring pollen sources that allow bees to balance macro-and micronutrients and phytochemical pollen components that differ among plant species (1). By selecting plant species that better satisfy the nutritional requirements of pollinators, the effectiveness of these management and conservation schemes can undoubtedly be greatly improved and optimized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bees forage in a very complex and changing environment, where floral nutritional resources (nectar and pollen) vary widely in quality and quantity among plant species (1). These resources are accompanied by myriad floral cues, including floral odors, color, morphology, and display area, and can vary dramatically in spatiotemporal availability; all these factors may influence and reinforce foraging decisions (2,3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pollen is the primary source of proteins, lipids, and other micronutrients for bees and is necessary for brood rearing, reproduction, and health (1,(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). However, pollen nutritional quality varies widely among plant species, ranging from 2-60% protein and 1-20% lipids by weight (10,18); thus, it likely is critical that bees selectively collect pollen species with the necessary nutritional quality to support their needs (1).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, pollen nutritional quality varies widely among plant species, ranging from 2-60% protein and 1-20% lipids by weight (10,18); thus, it likely is critical that bees selectively collect pollen species with the necessary nutritional quality to support their needs (1). The protein and amino acid concentrations of pollen modulate immunocompetence in honey bees (16,19) and reproduction (ovary activation and larval development) in bumble bees (12,14,(20)(21)(22).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Vaudo

Patch

Mortensen

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

287

302

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To fuel their activities and rear their offspring, foraging bees must obtain a sufficient quality and quantity of nutritional resources from a diverse plant community. Pollen is the primary source of proteins and lipids for bees, and the concentrations of these nutrients in pollen can vary widely among host-plant species. Therefore we hypothesized that foraging decisions of bumble bees are driven by both the protein and lipid content of pollen. By successively reducing environmental and floral cues, we analyzed pollen-foraging preferences of Bombus impatiens in (i) host-plant species, (ii) pollen isolated from these hostplant species, and (iii) nutritionally modified single-source pollen diets encompassing a range of protein and lipid concentrations. In our semifield experiments, B. impatiens foragers exponentially increased their foraging rates of pollen from plant species with high protein: lipid (P:L) ratios; the most preferred plant species had the highest ratio (∼4.6:1). These preferences were confirmed in cage studies where, in pairwise comparisons in the absence of other floral cues, B. impatiens workers still preferred pollen with higher P:L ratios. Finally, when presented with nutritionally modified pollen, workers were most attracted to pollen with P:L ratios of 5:1 and 10:1, but increasing the protein or lipid concentration (while leaving ratios intact) reduced attraction. Thus, macronutritional ratios appear to be a primary factor driving bee pollen-foraging behavior and may explain observed patterns of host-plant visitation across the landscape. The nutritional quality of pollen resources should be taken into consideration when designing conservation habitats supporting bee populations.foraging behavior | nutritional ecology | pollen | pollinator | preferences F oraging animals must obtain appropriate nutrients for growth, development, and reproduction from their environments. Bees forage in a very complex and changing environment, where floral nutritional resources (nectar and pollen) vary widely in quality and quantity among plant species (1). These resources are accompanied by myriad floral cues, including floral odors, color, morphology, and display area, and can vary dramatically in spatiotemporal availability; all these factors may influence and reinforce foraging decisions (2, 3). Worldwide declines in populations of bees and other pollinators have been linked to reduced diversity and abundance of host-plant species, likely placing bees under nutritional stress (4, 5). To develop strategic conservation protocols that preserve or restore foraging habitat that supports healthy pollinator populations, we must understand how bees forage in their environments to meet their nutritional needs. It is well established that solitary and social insects can forage selectively and regulate their intake of synthetic diets spanning a range of macronutrient nutritional qualities to reach their optimal, species-specific nutritional intake (6-8). Here we examine whether the generalist bumble bee species Bombus...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Vaudo

Patch

Mortensen

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

287

302

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Within the United Kingdom, the National Pollinator Strategy is a 10‐year plan to support pollinating insects which strongly emphasizes enhancing the availability of floral foraging resources across urban and rural landscapes (DEFRA, 2014). It is vital that bees and other pollinating insects have access to floral foraging resources throughout the adult flight season to meet their energetic requirements and maximize reproductive output (Müller et al., 2006; Vaudo, Tooker, Grozinger, & Patch, 2015). However, wildflower foraging resources have declined across much of the British countryside over the last century, a trend which is thought to have been a major contributor to long‐term declines in bee populations (Baude et al., 2016; Brown & Paxton, 2009; Goulson, Lye, & Darvill, 2008; Vanbergen, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flower preferences and pollen transport networks for cavity‐nesting solitary bees: Implications for the design of agri‐environment schemes

Gresty

Clare

Devey

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Floral foraging resources are valuable for pollinator conservation on farmland, and their provision is encouraged by agri‐environment schemes in many countries. Across Europe, wildflower seed mixtures are widely sown on farmland to encourage pollinators, but the extent to which key pollinator groups such as solitary bees exploit and benefit from these resources is unclear. We used high‐throughput sequencing of 164 pollen samples extracted from the brood cells of six common cavity‐nesting solitary bee species (Osmia bicornis, Osmia caerulescens, Megachile versicolor, Megachile ligniseca, Megachile centuncularis and Hylaeus confusus) which are widely distributed across the UK and Europe. We documented their pollen use across 19 farms in southern England, UK, revealing their forage plants and examining the structure of their pollen transport networks. Of the 32 plant species included currently in sown wildflower mixes, 15 were recorded as present within close foraging range of the bees on the study farms, but only Ranunculus acris L. was identified within the pollen samples. Rosa canina L. was the most commonly found of the 23 plant species identified in the pollen samples, suggesting that, in addition to providing a nesting resource for Megachile leafcutter bees, it may be an important forage plant for these species. Higher levels of connectance and nestedness were characteristic of pollen transport networks on farms with abundant floral resources, which may increase resilience to species loss. Our data suggest that plant species promoted currently by agri‐environment schemes are not optimal for solitary bee foraging. If a diverse community of pollinators is to be supported on UK and European farmland, additional species such as R. canina should be encouraged to meet the foraging requirements of solitary bees.

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A dataset of nectar sugar production for flowering plants found in urban green spaces

Tew

Baldock

Morten

et al. 2023

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Bee nutrition and floral resource restoration

Cited by 364 publications

References 130 publications

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Flower preferences and pollen transport networks for cavity‐nesting solitary bees: Implications for the design of agri‐environment schemes

A dataset of nectar sugar production for flowering plants found in urban green spaces

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