Long‐range foraging by the honey‐bee, Apis mellifera L.

Abstract

Summary 1.Waggle dances of honey-bees ( Apis mellifera L . ) were decoded to determine where and how far the bees foraged during the blooming of heather ( Calluna vulgaris L.) in August 1996 using a hive located in Sheffield, UK, east of the heather moors. The median distance foraged was 6·1 km, and the mean 5·5 km. Only 10% of the bees foraged within 0·5 km of the hive whereas 50% went more than 6 km, 25% more than 7·5 km and 10% more than 9·5 km from the hive. 2. These results are in sharp contrast with previous studies in which foraging distances were much closer to the hive. In May 1997 the mean foraging distance was 1 km, showing that long-range dancing is not the rule in Sheffield. 3. The observed foraging distances described in this study may not be exceptional in a patchy environment where differences in patch size and patch quality are large. When travel distances to patches are large, distant patches can probably be utilized only by individuals that live in groups and recruit foragers to the patches found. Only then are the benefits of scouting for distant patches high enough to enable the exploitation of these patches.

Correlating the Pollens Gathered by Apis Mellifera With the Landscape Features in Western France

“…The foraging distance depends on landscape structure and food resources (Beekman and Ratnieks, 2000; Steffan-Dewenter and Kuhn, 2003) and can reach 13.5-km (to collect nectar) (Visscher et al, 1996). Nevertheless, the average foraging distance varies between 1.5-km (Steffan-Dewenter and Kuhn, 2003) and 6.1 km (Beekman and Ratnieks, 2000), with resources near the beehives being favored. As a compromise between the highest values and the average of foraging distance, a radius of 3 kilometers was chosen for the foraging area (2827 ha) in the present study.…”

Are the birds dangerous for insect pollinators? The relationship between hymenopterans and the red-backed shrike

“…The abundance of hymenopterans at our study sites was low-on average two such insects were counted per 50 m 2 . This was probably due to the lack of beehives in the vicinity, which would have produced large numbers of honey bees, although these can fly up to several km (even as far as 10 km) away from the hive (Beekman and Ratnieks 2000). The density of Apidae species other than honey bees in Poland, even in fields of flowering winter oilseed rape Brassica napus, was 0.5-2.9 insects/100 m 2 (Sądej and Nietupski 2011).…”

Effects of converting natural forests to coniferous plantations on fruit and seed production and mating patterns in wild cherry trees

“…The maximum daily movements of the Japanese white-eyes ranged from 0.2 to 1.1 km (Aslan et al 2014). The foraging radii of honeybee workers from their nests ranged from 1.0 to 5.5 km (Beekman and Ratnieks 2000). Bumblebee queens flew up to 1.3 km within a few days (Hagen et al 2011) and dispersed by at least 3 km (Lepais et al 2010).…”

“…Leaf chlorophyll density was measured using a SPAD-502 Plus portable chlorophyll meter (Konica Minolta) 500-ha buffer area), the buffers slightly overlapped among some sites. Some P. verecunda pollinators, such as honeybee workers and bumblebee queens, have the foraging ranges of several kilometers (Beekman and Ratnieks 2000;Lepais et al 2010;Hagen et al 2011). Thus, the pollinators potentially overlapped among the sites.…”

“…Thus, long-distance pollen dispersal occurring such a large scale may affect the overall mating patterns (Kramer et al 2008;Ashley 2010). This spatial scale corresponds to the foraging ranges of some P. verecunda pollinators, such as birds and bees (Beekman and Ratnieks 2000;Lepais et al 2010;Hagen et al 2011;Aslan et al 2014). Thus, the abundance and activity of pollinators may be a primary factor that is responsible for reduced mate diversity resulted from the loss of natural forests (Klein et al 2007;Winfree et al 2009).…”