Learning of a Mimic Odor within Beehives Improves Pollination Service Efficiency in a Commercial Crop

Farina, Walter M.; Arenas, Andrés; Díaz, Paula C.; Martin, Cinthia Susic; Estravis-Barcala, M. Cecilia

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.018

Cited by 25 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Such higher proportion of filled achenes translated into a 20% increase in the weight of achenes (i.e., seed mass) compared to control plants. These results are consistent with the higher yields previously reported for different sunflower hybrids in plots pollinated by colonies fed with SM-scented food 13 . The results herein presented show that such increase in crop yield could be further augmented by the addition of combined NSC.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In the mentioned study, the mixture of both NSC (in the same concentrations as considered herein) improved short and long-term olfactory memories, tested 15 min and 24 h after conditioning restrained bees. It is well-known that olfactory memories established inside the nest can bias foraging preferences towards the learned stimulus 7 – 12 and recently, it has been shown that in-hive learning of a simple synthetic odorant mixture mimicking sunflower scent guided bees towards the target crop 13 . Moreover, previous laboratory-based studies have reported that caffeinated nectar biased the initial preference of generalist bees toward the target odor, even when the NSC was not present in the reward 25 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, a sunflower mimic (SM) odor that bees generalized with the natural floral scent of this highly pollinator-dependent crop has been developed 13 . Across different experimental approaches, this study shows that feeding colonies a rewarding mimic odor allowed bees to establish olfactory memories that conditioned them to forage on the sunflower crop.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning of a mimic odor combined with nectar nonsugar compounds enhances honeybee pollination of a commercial crop

Estravis-Barcala

Palottini

Farina

2021

Sci Rep

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The increasing demand on pollination services leads food industry to consider new strategies for management of pollinators to improve their efficiency in agroecosystems. Recently, it was demonstrated that feeding beehives food scented with an odorant mixture mimicking the floral scent of a crop (sunflower mimic, SM) enhanced foraging activity and improved recruitment to the target inflorescences, which led to higher density of bees on the crop and significantly increased yields. Besides, the oral administration of nonsugar compounds (NSC) naturally found in nectars (caffeine and arginine) improved short and long-term olfactory memory retention in conditioned bees under laboratory conditions. To test the effect of offering of SM-scented food supplemented with NSC on honeybees pollinating sunflower for hybrid seed production, in a commercial plantation we fed colonies SM-scented food (control), and SM-scented food supplemented with either caffeine, arginine, or a mixture of both, in field realistic concentrations. Their foraging activity was assessed at the hive and on the crop up to 90 h after treatment, and sunflower yield was estimated prior to harvest. Our field results show that SM + Mix-treated colonies exhibited the highest incoming rates and densities on the crop. Additionally, overall seed mass was significantly higher by 20% on inflorescences close to these colonies than control colonies. Such results suggest that combined NSC potentiate olfactory learning of a mimic floral odor inside the hive, promoting faster colony-level foraging responses and increasing crop production.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning of a mimic odor combined with nectar nonsugar compounds enhances honeybee pollination of a commercial crop

Estravis-Barcala

Palottini

Farina

2021

Sci Rep

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“…Finally, if we consider that social bees are involved in pollination of more than 70% of crops across the globe (Aizen and Harder, 2009), the present findings may have implications for pollination ecosystems. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the use of synthetic mimic odours of the floral crop learned inside the beehive is a suitable procedure to improve yield in commercial crops (Farina et al, 2020). If it were possible to complement this with these secondary compounds that act as memory enhancers, pollination efficiency might be improved further.…”

Section: Survival Of Harnessed Beesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined secondary compounds naturally found in nectars enhance honeybee cognition and survival

Marchi

Palottini

Farina

2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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The alkaloid caffeine and the amino acid arginine are present as secondary compounds in nectars of some flower species visited by pollinators. Each of these compounds affects honeybee appetitive behaviors by improving its foraging activity and learning. While caffeine potentiates responses of mushroom body neurons involved in honeybee learning processes, arginine acts as precursor of nitric oxide enhancing the protein synthesis involved in memory formation. Despite existing evidence on how these compounds affect honeybee cognitive abilities individually, the effect of their mixtures on this matter is still unknown. We evaluated acquisition and memory retention in classical olfactory conditioning procedure, in which reward (sucrose solution) contained traces of caffeine, arginine or mixtures of both. The results indicate that the presence of the single compounds and their most concentrated mixture increases bees’ learning performance. However, memory retention, measured at short- and long-term, increases significantly only in those treatments offering mixtures in the reward. Additionally, the most concentrated mixture triggers a significant survival rate in the conditioned bees. Thus, some nectar compounds, when combined, show synergistic effects on cognitive abilities and survival in an insect.

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“…15 Olfactory learning in the nest is similarly observed in honey bees. 16,17 We found that consumption of caffeinated food supplement by bumble bees in the nest, when combined with a floral odor blend (priming), induced a preference for target flowers emitting that same odor outside the nest, but not when bees were odor primed without caffeine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Bumble bees show an induced preference for flowers when primed with caffeinated nectar and a target floral odor

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Learning of a Mimic Odor within Beehives Improves Pollination Service Efficiency in a Commercial Crop

Cited by 25 publications

References 29 publications

Learning of a mimic odor combined with nectar nonsugar compounds enhances honeybee pollination of a commercial crop

Learning of a mimic odor combined with nectar nonsugar compounds enhances honeybee pollination of a commercial crop

Combined secondary compounds naturally found in nectars enhance honeybee cognition and survival

Bumble bees show an induced preference for flowers when primed with caffeinated nectar and a target floral odor

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