Impact of empty flowers on foraging choice and movement within floral patches by the honey bee, Apis mellifera

Forster, C. Y.; Middleton, E. J. T.; Gloag, R.; Hochuli, D. F.; White, T. E.; Latty, T.

doi:10.1007/s00040-023-00934-3

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…What flowers offer nectar will vary over the season as different plant species go through their respective reproductive cycles (Coffey & Breen, 1997; Murphy & Kelly, 2003; Ogilvie & Forrest, 2017; Ogilvie & Thomson, 2016), and as the composition of pollinator fauna exploiting those species changes over time (Balfour et al, 2015; Cane & Payne, 1993; Page & Williams, 2023; Petanidou et al, 2008). Such variation can influence the foraging options available to an individual nectarivore and require them to adapt appropriately (Forster et al, 2023; Heinrich, 1976; Irwin et al, 2010; Lichtenberg et al, 2020; Lowe et al, 2022; Ogilvie & Thomson, 2016; Page & Williams, 2023; Pleasants, 1981).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Floral Cues and Flower Handling Tactics Affect Switching Decisions by Nectar-Foraging Bumble Bees

Baek,

Garcia,

Papaj

2024

Preprint

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Nectar foraging bees change their use of floral resources as plant species appear in the environment and disappear over their lifetimes. The new flowers used may involve different cues and different nectar extraction tactics. Although bumble bees can adapt to changes in floral cues and required tactics, little is known about whether bees prioritize switching tactics or floral cues when deciding which plant species to switch to. In a laboratory assay, we forced Bombus impatiens (common eastern bumble bee) workers either to switch the handling tactic they were using or to continue using the tactic but to switch the colour of artificial flowers foraged on. We examined whether bees' tendency to change their tactics was influenced by how similar in colour novel flowers were to familiar ones. We conducted a 2 by 2 factorial experiment using artificial flowers, manipulating the handling tactic that bees were initially trained (legitimate visitation or nectar robbing) and the similarity between novel and trained colours (similar or distinct). We found that under most conditions bees preferred to switch flower colours and retain handling tactics. However, when given experience with legitimate visitation and when novel flowers were markedly different in colour from those they had experienced previously, bees tended to switch tactic while continuing to forage on flowers of the same colour. These findings suggest that the similarity in colour of a new floral resource to the currently exploited resource, along with the flower handling tactic employed by bees, jointly plays an important role in decision-making by foraging bumble bees.

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