Scholarlink

<p>Honey bee colonies adapt their foraging behaviours to the availability of floral resources to meet their nutritional needs. However, it is unknown if the nutritional quality of stored or supplemented pollen can influence the floral choices of bees during commercial crop pollination. The foraging behaviour of bees from 40 colonies was studied during avocado pollination in southern Western Australia. A pollen database of the orchard was built and used to assess the floral preference of the bees. Pollen collectors and nectar foragers showed different foraging behaviour as indicated by their Dominance Candidate Index (DCI). The foraging choices were partially affected by the type of supplemented pollen that consisted of agricultural and forest species. Aside from nutritional cues, floral source abundance and attractiveness played a role in influencing the foraging behaviour for pollen and nectar. Both pollen and nectar foragers chose a sub-set of flowers available at the avocado orchard. Foraging bees respond strongly to various environmental cues that potentially underlie energetic investment and food reward principals.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Environmental cues rather than quality of supplemented pollen drive the foraging behaviour of honey bees during avocado pollination

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月13日

查看全文
  • Madlen Kratz,
  • Robert Manning,
  • Lynne Milne,
  • Kenneth Dods,
  • Boris Baer,
  • Dominique Blache

摘要

Honey bee colonies adapt their foraging behaviours to the availability of floral resources to meet their nutritional needs. However, it is unknown if the nutritional quality of stored or supplemented pollen can influence the floral choices of bees during commercial crop pollination. The foraging behaviour of bees from 40 colonies was studied during avocado pollination in southern Western Australia. A pollen database of the orchard was built and used to assess the floral preference of the bees. Pollen collectors and nectar foragers showed different foraging behaviour as indicated by their Dominance Candidate Index (DCI). The foraging choices were partially affected by the type of supplemented pollen that consisted of agricultural and forest species. Aside from nutritional cues, floral source abundance and attractiveness played a role in influencing the foraging behaviour for pollen and nectar. Both pollen and nectar foragers chose a sub-set of flowers available at the avocado orchard. Foraging bees respond strongly to various environmental cues that potentially underlie energetic investment and food reward principals.