Quality versus quantity: Foraging decisions in the honeybee (<i>Apis mellifera scutellata</i>) feeding on wildflower nectar and fruit juice

Shackleton, Kyle; Balfour, Nicholas J.; Toufailia, Hasan Al; Junior, Roberto Gaioski; Barbosa, Marcela de Matos; Silva, Carina A de S; Bento, José Maurício Simões; Alves, Denise A.; Ratnieks, Francis L. W.

doi:10.1002/ece3.2478

Cited by 26 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 68 publications

(84 reference statements)

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“…Honeybees have previously been shown to prefer nectar with high proportions of sucrose in watermelon, apple, and cherry (Zauralow, ; Wolf et al, ) and to prefer sucrose to most other naturally occurring sugars (Barker & Lehner, ). However, similar to another study in strawberries and in a study comparing foraging in fallen Guava fruit and wildflowers (Grünfeld et al, ; Shackleton et al, ), we did not find any evidence of honeybee preferences for these parameters. Due to very low nectar volume (<1 μg per flower) we measured nectar quality as sugar content per flower.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Forage quality and quantity affect red mason bees and honeybees differently in flowers of strawberry varieties

Ahrenfeldt

Sigsgaard

Hansted

et al. 2019

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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Nectar is a vital source of energy for bees and other pollinators and pollen represents the only source of protein in the diet of bees. Nectar and pollen quality and quantity can therefore affect foraging choices. Strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa (Rosaceae), is a flowering crop that requires insect pollination for the berries to develop optimally. The solitary red mason bee, Osmia bicornis L. (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), occurs naturally but like the eusocial western honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), it is also a commercially reared pollinator used in strawberry production. We hypothesized that strawberry nectar and pollen quality would affect the foraging choice of these two types of bees. In this study nectar and pollen quality is represented by various levels of sugar and protein content, respectively, as well as the number of open strawberry flowers in the experimental field, would affect the foraging choice of these two types of bees. Consistent with previous studies, we found significant and major differences between strawberry varieties in proportions of sucrose in the nectar sugar and in pollen viability – a proxy for pollen protein content. All measured parameters had a significant effect on red mason bee visitation frequency. Contrary to expectations, honeybee foraging behavior was only affected by the number of open flowers and not by any of the quality parameters measured. Our findings indicate that red mason bees were capable of assessing nectar and pollen quality and prioritize accordingly. The pattern observed indicates that individual red mason bees changed foraging focus between strawberry varieties depending on whether nectar or pollen was collected. Our results suggest that targeted breeding of varieties toward high levels of nectar sugar and sucrose concentrations and high pollen protein content may increase pollination success from red mason bees and possibly other solitary bees.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Forage quality and quantity affect red mason bees and honeybees differently in flowers of strawberry varieties

Ahrenfeldt

Sigsgaard

Hansted

et al. 2019

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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“…; Shackleton et al . ). Quantity of the food available is an important variable for species returning to a site where food has been collected before and influences subsequent foraging decision‐making (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

How single events can influence decision‐making in foraging Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) social wasps

Moreyra

Lozada

2018

Austral Entomology

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Social insects are known for their behavioural plasticity and learning abilities. In the present work, we evaluated whether a single past experience could influence Vespula germanica (F.) foraging behaviour by analysing wasp response in two changing situations: when food was displaced at different distances from a previously learned location and when the amount of resource was significantly decreased. In the former case, wasps were allowed to collect meat once from a dish which was later displaced 300, 600 or 900 mm from the previous location. Thus, on the second visit, wasps encountered an empty dish in place of the previously baited one. We recorded the time taken to find the displaced food, the number of hovers over the previously learned location and the direction of first approach of returning foragers. Wasps spent less time searching at the previously learnt site when the dish with food was displaced 300 mm rather than 600 or 900 mm from the learned location. In the second experiment, when two dishes with food were simultaneously offered, one containing 20 g and another 80 g, wasps preferred the 80 g dish. On their second visit, we switched the position of the dishes and recorded which dish wasps collected food from. We found that most wasps collected food from the previously learned location and not from the dish with the more abundant resource. This study illustrates the remarkable influence of a single collecting experience on V. germanica subsequent foraging behaviour.

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“…This is a normal, routine operation in the nest and hence a factor in the thermoregulation of the colony. In the numerous discussions on how water is collected and used for thermoregulation [9][10][11][12][13][14], the only parallels drawn between water & 2019 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal efficiency extends distance and variety for honeybee foragers: analysis of the energetics of nectar collection and desiccation by Apis mellifera

Mitchell

2019

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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The desiccation of nectar to produce honey by honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) is an energy-intensive process, as it involves a quasi-isothermal change in the concentration of sugars from typically 20 to 80% by vaporization (honey ripening). This analysis creates mathematical models for: the collected nectar to honey ratio; energy recovery ratio; honey energy margin; and the break-even distance, which includes the factors of nectar concentration and the distance to the nectar from the nest; energetics of desiccation and a new factor, thermal energy efficiency (TEE) of nectar desiccation. These models show a significant proportion of delivered energy in the nectar must be used in desiccation, and that there is a strong connection between TEE and nest lumped thermal conductance with colony behaviour. They show the connection between TEE and honeybee colony success, or failure, in the rate of return, in terms of distance or quality of foraging. Consequently, TEE is a key parameter in honeybee populations and foraging modelling. For bee keeping, it quantifies the summer benefits of a key hive design parameter, hive thermal conductance and gives a sound theoretical basis for improving honey yields, as seen in expanded polystyrene hives.

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Quality versus quantity: Foraging decisions in the honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata) feeding on wildflower nectar and fruit juice

Cited by 26 publications

References 68 publications

Forage quality and quantity affect red mason bees and honeybees differently in flowers of strawberry varieties

Forage quality and quantity affect red mason bees and honeybees differently in flowers of strawberry varieties

How single events can influence decision‐making in foraging Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) social wasps

Thermal efficiency extends distance and variety for honeybee foragers: analysis of the energetics of nectar collection and desiccation by Apis mellifera

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