Influence of Abiotic Factors and Floral Resource Availability on Daily Foraging Activity of Bees

Polatto, Leandro Pereira; Chaud-Netto, José; Alves-Júnior, Valter Vieira

doi:10.1007/s10905-014-9452-6

Cited by 90 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…In general, the foraging activity registered herein followed a pattern already described in other studies (Kovac & Stabentheiner, 2011;Malerbo-Souza & Silva, 2011;Polatto, Chaud-Netto & Alves-Junior, 2014), in which the temperature increase and relative humidity reduction influenced the frequency of foraging of A. mellifera. The activity of Africanized honeybees in this study was more intense when the temperature was high, around 29.4°C ± 4.9, and the relative humidity was low, around 43.6% ± 11.2.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Effects of abiotic factors on the foraging activity of Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 in inflorescences of Vernonia polyanthes Less (Asteraceae)

Alves

Cassino

Prezoto

2015

Acta Sci. Anim. Sci.

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ABSTRACT. Knowledge on the foraging activity of Apis mellifera under the influence of abiotic factors has not been fully elucidated. Knowing the interactions between bees and plants with beekeeping relevance is fundamental to develop management strategies aimed at improving the beekeeping productivity. In this way, this study aimed to determine the foraging schedule of A. mellifera and to assess the influence of environmental factors on the foraging on inflorescences of Vernonia polyanthes. The study was conducted in the rural area of Valença, Rio de Janeiro State. Visits of A. mellifera workers to V. polyanthes inflorescences occurred from 9 am to 4 pm, especially between 11 am and 3 pm. Among the abiotic variables, relative humidity (rs = -0.691; p < 0.0001) and temperature (rs = 0.531; p < 0.0001) were correlated with foraging activity. Increase in temperature and decrease in humidity resulted in increased frequency in bee foraging activity, accounting for 46.9% of the activity in A. mellifera. This study provides subsidies to the development of apiculture, emphasizing the importance of V. polyanthes as a food resource during winter, representing a good alternative to increase the productivity, especially in areas of grasslands or abandoned crops, where 'Assa-peixe' is abundant.Keywords: beekeeping, abiotic factors, Africanized honeybees, Assa-peixe.Efeito dos fatores abióticos sobre a atividade forrageadora de Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 em inflorescências de Vernonia polyanthes Less (Asteraceae) RESUMO. O conhecimento das atividades de forrageio de Apis mellifera sob a influência dos fatores abióticos ainda não está completamente elucidado. Conhecer as interações entre abelhas e plantas de importância apícola é fundamental para o desenvolvimento de metodologias de manejo, que visem à produtividade e desenvolvimento da apicultura. Sendo assim, este trabalho tem como objetivo conhecer o horário de forrageio de A. mellifera e avaliar a influência dos fatores ambientais sobre o forrageio nas inflorescências de Vernonia polyanthes. O estudo foi conduzido em uma área rural da cidade de Valença, Estado do Rio de Janeiro. As visitas das operárias de A. mellifera as inflorescências de V. polyanthes ocorreram das 9 às 16 h, com maior atividade entre 11 e 15 h. Dos fatores abióticos estudados, umidade relativa do ar (rs = -0,691; p < 0,0001) e temperatura (rs = 0,531; p < 0,0001) se correlacionaram com a atividade forrageadora. O aumento da temperatura e diminuição da umidade aumentou a frequência no forrageio das abelhas, sendo responsáveis por 46,9% da atividade de A. mellifera. Este trabalho fornece subsídios para o desenvolvimento da apicultura, uma vez que destaca a importância de V. polyanthes como fonte de recurso para A. mellifera durante o inverno, sendo uma boa alternativa para os apicultores melhorarem a produtividade dessa atividade econômica, principalmente em áreas de pastagem ou cultivos abandonados, com abundância de Assa-peixe.Palavras-chave: apicultura, fatores abióticos, abelhas africanizadas, Ass...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Effects of abiotic factors on the foraging activity of Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 in inflorescences of Vernonia polyanthes Less (Asteraceae)

Alves

Cassino

Prezoto

2015

Acta Sci. Anim. Sci.

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“…We observed that bee visitation rates were influenced by the time of day; a visitation peak was reached between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., which declined to zero by approximately 12:00 p.m. The reduction in bee visitation rates during the afternoon could be explained by the depletion of floral resources (Biesmeijer et al, 1999;Hofstede and Sommeijer, 2006;Polatto et al, 2014) and/or adverse abiotic factors (Antonini et al, 2005;Polatto et al, 2014). Considering that pollen availability coincided with the beginning of anthesis (approximately 7:30 a.m.), and that pollen was highly sought by the bees, it was highly possible that the quantity of pollen became scarce throughout the day.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Diversity and flower-visiting rates of bee species as potential pollinators of melon (Cucumis melo L.) in the Brazilian Cerrado

Tschoeke

Oliveira

Dalcin

et al. 2015

Scientia Horticulturae

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a b s t r a c tAlthough bees are important pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide, studies on bee diversity and their contribution to pollination of commercial plants in the Brazilian Cerrado (savannah-like biome) are scarce. The Cerrado biome covers approximately 23% of Brazil and is one of the world's most important agricultural frontiers. Here, we conducted field experiments in the Brazilian Cerrado to evaluate the diversity of bees, their foraging behaviors and flower visiting periods, and their potential contribution to the performance of six melon (Cucumis melo L.) cultivars. Five bee species (Apis mellifera, Halictus sp., Plebeia sp., Trigona pallens, and T. spinipes) were recorded visiting both male and hermaphrodite flower types of all C. melo cultivars. Whereas A. mellifera showed two peaks of flower visitation (an intense first one between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and a second less intense one after 4:00 p.m.), all other bee species visited the C. melo flowers only in the morning, with intensities and visitation peaks similar to those of A. mellifera. All of these bees collected nectar and pollen. Our results also indicated a moderate correlation between the intensity of bee visitation and fruit weight, demonstrating that all of these bees had the potential to pollinate C. melo and to influence its productivity. Except for the cultivar 'Hibrix', all the other cultivars showed economic feasibility and produced fruits of marketable sizes, with an estimated yield (over 25 tons/ha) in the range registered in other Brazilian regions.

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“…For Claytonia , the number of visitors per plot was significantly reduced in the snow removal treatment compared to the natural snowmelt treatment. This might indicate that either early blooming species in the snow removal treatment were growing under unfavourable weather conditions for pollinators (Polatto, Chaud‐Netto, & Alves‐Junior, ), or their peak flowering may not have coincided with their pollinators' emergence and peak activity. While these interpretations suggest a mismatch between early blooming species and their pollinators under climate change, we did not find any evidence for pollen limitation in the snow removal plots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The individual and combined effects of snowmelt timing and frost exposure on the reproductive success of montane forbs

et al. 2019

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Changes from historic weather patterns have affected the phenology of many organisms world‐wide. Altered phenology can introduce organisms to novel abiotic conditions during growth and modify species interactions, both of which could drive changes in reproduction. We explored how climate change can alter plant reproduction using an experiment in which we manipulated the individual and combined effects of snowmelt timing and frost exposure, and measured subsequent effects on flowering phenology, peak flower density, frost damage, pollinator visitation and reproduction of four subalpine wildflowers. Additionally, we conducted a pollen‐supplementation experiment to test whether the plants in our snowmelt and frost treatments were pollen limited for reproduction. The four plants included species flowering in early spring to mid‐summer. The phenology of all four species was significantly advanced, and the bloom duration was longer in the plots from which we removed snow, but with species‐specific responses to snow removal and frost exposure in terms of frost damage, flower production, pollinator visitation and reproduction. The two early blooming species showed significant signs of frost damage in both early snowmelt and frost treatments, which negatively impacted reproduction for one of the species. Further, we recorded fewer pollinators during flowering for the earliest‐blooming species in the snow removal plots. We also found lower fruit and seed set for the early blooming species in the snow removal treatment, which could be attributed to the plants growing under unfavourable abiotic conditions. However, the later‐blooming species escaped frost damage even in the plots where snow was removed, and experienced increased pollinator visitation and reproduction. Synthesis. This study provides insight into how plant communities could become altered due to changes in abiotic conditions, and some of the mechanisms involved. While early blooming species may be at a disadvantage under climate change, species that bloom later in the season may benefit from early snowmelt, suggesting that climate change has the potential to reshape flowering communities.

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Influence of Abiotic Factors and Floral Resource Availability on Daily Foraging Activity of Bees

Cited by 90 publications

References 63 publications

<b>Effects of abiotic factors on the foraging activity of <i>Apis mellifera</i> Linnaeus, 1758 in inflorescences of <i>Vernonia polyanthes</i> Less (Asteraceae)

<b>Effects of abiotic factors on the foraging activity of <i>Apis mellifera</i> Linnaeus, 1758 in inflorescences of <i>Vernonia polyanthes</i> Less (Asteraceae)

Diversity and flower-visiting rates of bee species as potential pollinators of melon (Cucumis melo L.) in the Brazilian Cerrado

The individual and combined effects of snowmelt timing and frost exposure on the reproductive success of montane forbs

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