The effects of pollen availability during larval development on the behaviour and physiology of spring-reared honey bee workers

Abstract

-Over two years, we investigated the effects of altering the availability of pollen in colonies during the spring on the physiology, longevity and division of labour of spring-reared workers. In the first year, workers reared in colonies supplemented with pollen were longer-lived but lighter and less protein-rich at emergence than workers reared in colonies with limited pollen supplies. In the second year, patterns were different and workers reared in colonies with pollen supplements were shortest-lived but similar physiologically to workers from colonies with less pollen. As adults, these workers also spent more time tending brood, less time patrolling or resting idly on the comb and were less likely to participate in foraging than workers reared in pollen-limited colonies. The availability of pollen during larval development influenced worker traits, but variability in response across years is also attributable to other environmental factors that were not controlled in these studies.Apis mellifera / pollen / nursing / division of labour / worker quality

Flight performance of artificially reared honeybees (Apis mellifera)

“…The diet we provided was sufficient to produce working flight musculature, enabling the artificially reared bees to achieve similar flight performance to naturally reared bees. High-performance flight speed, thorax weight, and wing surface may still be slightly reduced, as described by authors for honeybees reared under difficult nutritional conditions (Eischen et al, 1982;Kunert and Crailsheim, 1988;Daly et al, 1995;Mattila and Otis, 2006). However, our findings definitively support the use of the described method in toxicity testings, although other parameters of viability remain unexplored.…”

“…Tautz et al (2003) demonstrated that another method, conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex, is precise enough to evaluate differences in learning and memory consolidation in honeybees reared at different temperatures as pupae. Larval nutrition may also affect other parameters of viability of adult bees, such as disease susceptibility, development of hypopharyngeal glands (Moritz and Crailsheim, 1987), age at onset of foraging (Neukirch, 1982), behaviour, complex social interactions, and longevity (Kunert and Crailsheim, 1988;Mattila and Otis, 2006). We did not gather detailed data on the longevity of artificially reared honeybees, but in agreement with Tautz et al (2003), who raised pupae at lowered temperatures, we found that the number of artificially reared bees present in the hive decreased with aging stronger than the number of control bees.…”

Influence of pollen deprivation on the fore wing asymmetry of honeybee workers and drones

“…Experimental conditions, due to replications conducted at different times during the season, could Wing asymmetry of pollen-deprived honeybees affect the development more than pollen deprivation, because pollen sources change during the course of the season (Köppler et al 2007;Odoux et al 2012;Di Pasquale et al 2013). This is also in agreement with the results of Mattila and Otis (2006c) showing how worker traits are differently modified by pollen availability in various years and at different times of the year. We conclude that fore wing asymmetry in workers and drones is not a good indicator of pollen deprivation during development.…”

“…Generally, lower body mass is suggested to be the consequence of fewer nutrients (mostly protein)-due to shortages in pollen availability in the hive-received from nursing bees feeding the larvae during the first phase of their development. However, the study of Mattila and Otis (2006c) has showed that the response of honeybees to pollen availability during larval development is highly variable and dependant also on other environmental factors. In our study, nursing bees were able to rear the brood in spite of the active pollen traps installed in the hive.…”

Food manipulation in honeybees induces physiological responses at the individual and colony level

“…Specifically, bees restrict brood rearing to seasons when pollen is available and become cannibalistic when pollen is scarce (Schmickl and Crailsheim 2001). Pollen-deprived adult bees have been reported to act normally but die at significantly younger ages (Haydak 1937) but the mortality affect seems to be context dependent (Mattila and Otis 2006b). Thus, we compared honeybee workers under different food regimes with regards to their life expectancy, soluble protein content, and ISC replication rate.…”