Maintenance of Bumble Bee Colonies in Observation Hives (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Pomeroy, Nelson; Plowright, R. C.

doi:10.4039/ent112321-3

Cited by 56 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…After the first brood of workers emerged in late May, the colonies were transferred to glass-topped observation hives (either a plywood box 21 ¥ 17 ¥ 10 cm, or a cored perlite/plaster block; Pomeroy and Plowright, 1980). Most of the insulating cotton batting was removed to facilitate observation of in-nest activities.…”

Section: Observation Colony Establishmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual and colony factors in bumble bee division of labor (Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handl; Hymenoptera, Apidae)

O’Donnell¹,

Reichardt²,

Foster

2000

Insectes soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We quantified the relationships of colony-level factors (number of workers and colony age) with task performance by workers of the bumble bee Bombus bifarius. Worker's age of first foraging decreased as their colonies aged, which may have caused the observed decrease in worker longevity with colony age. Daily variation in colony nectar foraging rates was related to the number of active foragers, while pollen foraging rates corresponded more strongly with variation in numbers of adult workers. Rates of brood care behavior decreased as the colonies aged, but rates of thermoregulatory behavior (incubation and fanning) did not decrease over time. We conclude that rates of performing some tasks (pollen foraging, brood care) were largely determined by changes in colony demography or correlated variables, while rates of performance of other tasks (nectar foraging, thermoregulation) depended more on external environmental conditions. Most workers switched between two foraging tasks (pollen and nectar collection) and among several in-nest tasks. However, some foragers specialized by focusing their effort on either nectar or pollen. Other workers specialized on in-nest tasks by performing thermoregulatory behavior (incubation and fanning) at significantly higher rates than their nestmates. The task specialists contributed disproportionate amounts of labor to their colonies. Task specialization indicates that workers were not identical in their responses to variation in colony need.

show abstract

Section: Observation Colony Establishmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual and colony factors in bumble bee division of labor (Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handl; Hymenoptera, Apidae)

O’Donnell¹,

Reichardt²,

Foster

2000

Insectes soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Pomeroy and Plowright (1980) as well as Katayama (1989) adapted the electrically heated observation boxes developed by Sakagami (1966) for their bumblebee studies.…”

Section: Climate In the Rearing Roommentioning

confidence: 99%

A century of advances in bumblebee domestication and the economic and environmental aspects of its commercialization for pollination

Velthuis¹,

Doorn²

2006

Apidologie

768

849

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-This paper reviews a century of progress in techniques of bumblebee rearing, starting with those used to encourage bumblebee queens to initiate a colony in artificial domiciles and including those needed for the commercial production of large numbers of colonies for the pollination of agricultural crops. Five species of bumblebees are currently used for crop pollination, the major ones being Bombus terrestris from Eurasia and Bombus impatiens from North America. As a result of their frequent use in foreign territories, there have been reports of B. terrestris becoming established, as well as interactions and/or competition with local (bumble-) bee fauna. Of the many vegetable, fruit and seed crops that bumblebees pollinate, greenhouse tomatoes are of predominant importance. In 2004, 40 000 ha of tomato crops were pollinated, with a crop value of e 12 000 million. The growers benefit from bumblebee pollination because of lower production costs, increased yields, and improved fruit quality. The interrelationship between commercial mechanisms and ecological risks is discussed.bumblebee / pollination / commercial rearing / economic value / ecological impact

show abstract

“…DFP has advantages over fresh pollen in the sense that it is cheaper and is less likely to become contaminated by fungi and other microorganisms. On the other hand, it is unattractive to queens probably because of its unpalatability (Pomeroy and Plowright, 1980). In fact, many authors have advocated the use of fresh pollen to initiate colonies in captivity (Hasselrot, 1952;Free and Butler, 1959; Plowright and Jay, 1966;Röseler, 1985 (Todd and Bretherick, 1942; Vivino and Palmer, 1944;Standifer, 1966; for reviews see Haydak, 1970;Herbert, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the effects of two kinds of commercially available pollen on colony development and queen production in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris L (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

1996

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary — The effects of two kinds of stored pollen (fresh and dried, kept in the freezer) on individuals and colonies of Bombus terrestris were investigated. The pattern of colony development, and the number and biomass of workers and males were similar for colonies fed on fresh-frozen pollen (FFP) and dried-frozen pollen (DFP). However, queens reared on DFP were smaller, had lower biomass, higher mortality and produced smaller colonies than queens reared on FFP.

show abstract

Maintenance of Bumble Bee Colonies in Observation Hives (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Cited by 56 publications

References 5 publications

Individual and colony factors in bumble bee division of labor (Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handl; Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Individual and colony factors in bumble bee division of labor (Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handl; Hymenoptera, Apidae)

A century of advances in bumblebee domestication and the economic and environmental aspects of its commercialization for pollination

Comparison of the effects of two kinds of commercially available pollen on colony development and queen production in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris L (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About