Efficiency in pollen foraging by honey bees: Time, motion and pollen depletion on flowers of <i>Sisyrinchium palmifolium</i> Linnaeus (Asparagales: Iridaceae)

Abstract

Honey bees depend on flower resources (nectar and pollen) to supply individual and colony needs. Although behavioural studies already assessed optimum foraging patterns of bumblebees, honey bees foraging behavioural patterns have been poorly assessed. We used Sysirinchium palmifolium L. (Iridaceae), a low-growing, abundant and anthophilous grassland flower to test the hypotheses that Apis mellifera workers would i) spend more time, ii) visit a greater number of flowers, and iii) travel greater distances within patches of S. palmifolium which were newly opened or not been visited by other pollinators when compared to foraging on patches that were available to pollinators during its whole blooming period (only one day). In two different sunny days, we measured bee activities in an area opened for visitation during the whole anthesis (OP plot treatment) and another opened for visitation only half of anthesis (CL plot treatment). We observed bees spending more time, visiting more flowers and travelling more in S. palmifolium CL treatment than the OP plot treatment. Previous studies already showed bees alter their foraging behaviour in the lack of resources. Honey bees are able to remember the period of the day when resources are usually the higher, they probably detect the most promising period to gather resources on S. palmifolium flowers. Since A. mellifera is a pollinator with a wide-distribution and is considered an important cause of changes on native pollinator communities, we support additional studies evaluating its foraging behaviours to better understand how it explores flower resources.

OBSERVATION ON THE FLOWER-VISITING INSECTS OF ROSE (Rosa spp.) IN A RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPE AREA

“…This behaviour was reported for the small bodies' bee, as compared to their large size counterparts (Tangmitcharoen et al, 2006). The difference in time spent between the flowervisiting insects could be due to the depleted pollen grains in the already exploited flowers (Silva et al, 2013). In present study, Halictidae 1 and H. itama were found to spent longer time as compared to other visitors, as these 2 insect taxa were often observed foraging at the flowers in the early morning, much earlier than the other insect visitors.…”

Influence of climatic factors and floristic diversity on the foraging activity of Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille in a West African Savannah

“…Kajobe and Echazarreta (2005) found that stingless bees' activities were optimal at 78% of relative humidity. Indeed, high humidity leads to a dilution of nectar and a disruption of the physical properties of pollen (Alves et al, 2015; Silva et al, 2013) which resulted in less attractiveness of the honey bees to the flower rewards. Periods of rainfall in addition to be positively correlated with relative humidity, make foraging activities almost impossible (De Mattos et al, 2018).…”

Differential Foraging of Indigenous and Exotic Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Races on Nectar-Rich Flow in a Subtropical Ecosystem

“…In a nearby area with no A. gerrardii trees, Abou-Shaara, Al-Ghamdi and Mohamed [23] reported foraging activities of 73 and 43 workers/colony/5 min, which were less than the 109 and 49 workers/colony/3 min found in the present study for native and imported colonies, respectively, confirming the effect of the nectar-rich Acacia flow in this study. Additionally, Silva, et al [44] suggested that the field trips of foraging honeybees may peak at the time of the day when abundant food resources are accessible.…”