Maize pollen foraging by honey bees in relation to crop area and landscape context

Danner, Nadja; Härtel, Stephan; Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2014.08.010

Cited by 48 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…We placed each group of three colonies on one hive stand in the centre of each landscape at the start of the experiment. We characterized the landscapes within a circular area of 2 km radius (i.e., 1,265.64 ha area) around the hive stands as in comparable landscape types more than 90% of all pollen sources advertised by dancing bees are within this distance (Danner, Härtel, & Steffan‐Dewenter, ). The selected landscapes covered gradients in the amount and diversity of floral resources as well as the contribution of mass‐flowering crops to available floral resources (Table ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honey bee waggle dance communication increases diversity of pollen diets in intensively managed agricultural landscapes

et al. 2019

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The benefits of honey bee dance communication for colony performance in different resource environments are still not well understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that directional dance communication enables honey bee colonies to maintain a diverse pollen diet, especially in landscapes with low resource diversity. To test this hypothesis, we placed 24 Apis mellifera L. colonies with either intact or experimentally disrupted dance communication in eight agricultural landscapes that differed in the diversity of flowering plants and in the dominance of mass‐flowering crops. Pollen from incoming foragers was collected and identified via DNA metabarcoding. Disrupting dance communication affected the way the diversity of honey bee pollen diets was impacted by the dominance of mass‐flowering crops in available flower resources (p = .04). With increasing dominance of mass‐flowering crops in resource environments, foragers of colonies with intact communication foraged on an increasing proportion of available plant genera (p = .01). This was not the case for colonies with disrupted dance communication (p = .5). We conclude that the honey bee dance communication benefits pollen foraging on diverse plant resources and thereby contributes to high quality nutrition in environments with low‐resource diversity.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honey bee waggle dance communication increases diversity of pollen diets in intensively managed agricultural landscapes

et al. 2019

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“…A tent of lightproof cloth prevented light‐induced confusion of bees during observations (Danner et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Season and landscape composition affect pollen foraging distances and habitat use of honey bees

Danner

Molitor

Schiele

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

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Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) show a large variation in foraging distances and use a broad range of plant species as pollen resources, even in regions with intensive agriculture. However, it is unknown how increasing areas of mass-flowering crops like oilseed rape (Brassica napus; OSR) or a decrease of seminatural habitats (SNH) change the temporal and spatial availability of pollen resources for honey bee colonies, and thus foraging distances and frequency in different habitat types. We studied pollen foraging of honey bee colonies in 16 agricultural landscapes with independent gradients of OSR and SNH area within 2 km and used waggle dances and digital geographic maps with major land cover types to reveal the distance and visited habitat type on a landscape level. Mean pollen foraging distance of 1347 decoded bee dances was 1015 m (± 26 m; SEM). In spring, increasing area of flowering OSR within 2 km reduced mean pollen foraging distances from 1324 m to only 435 m. In summer, increasing cover of SNH areas close to the colonies (within 200 m radius) reduced mean pollen foraging distances from 846 to 469 m. Frequency of pollen foragers per habitat type, measured as the number of dances per hour and hectare, was equally high for SNH, grassland, and OSR fields, but lower for other crops and forests. In landscapes with a small proportion of SNH a significantly higher density of pollen foragers on SNH was observed, indicating that pollen resources in such simple agricultural landscapes are more limited. Overall, we conclude that SNH and mass-flowering crops can reduce foraging distances of honey bee colonies at different scales and seasons with possible benefits for the performance of honey bee colonies. Further, mixed agricultural landscapes with a high proportion of SNH reduce foraging densities of honey bees in SNH and thus possible competition for pollen resources.

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“…The resources of pollen under restricted feed conditions and affect honey bee health are found (Naug, 2009;Decourtye et al, 2010;Hilgert-Moreira et al, 2013;Danner et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollen Natural Resources For Bees In Slovakia

Chlebo¹,

Adamchuk²

2017

Agrobiodiversity for Improving Nutrition, Health and Life Quality

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Studying the pollen resources is a topical issue for both honey bees and people. The aim of our work was pollen natural resources for bees in deferent regions of Slovakia. Pollen grains, bee pollen, bee families and certain species of enthomophile plants served as a biological material. Flowering terms and other information related to the use of protein feed by bees in different regions of Slovakia were obtained after processing the information gained from local beekeepers. The bee pollen was selected several times a month in a set period that was the same for Trenčín, Banská Bystrica, Prešov, Bratislava and Nitra regions. Flower pollen resources were not of the same botanical origin for different regions of Slovakia. Percentage of pollen resources available for bees from different of plants species were established for each region. The definitions were made using pollen analysis of the bee pollen brought by the bees to their homes in the spring and summer periods and also in different decades of months from May to September. Significant resources of flower pollen are characteristic of than Slovak regions of the total: during spring in Trenčín are Robinia spp. -31%; during spring are Salicaceae -52% and summer are Helianthus spp. -64%; during spring in Prestavlky Rosaceae -42% and summer Brassicaceae -70%; during spring in Spišský Štiavnik are Salicaceae -70% and summer: Helianthus spp. -56%; during spring in Hranivnica are Salicaceae -60% and summer Epilobium spp. -90%; during spring in Bratislava are Malus spp. -35% and summer Helianthus spp. -46%.

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Maize pollen foraging by honey bees in relation to crop area and landscape context

Cited by 48 publications

References 21 publications

Honey bee waggle dance communication increases diversity of pollen diets in intensively managed agricultural landscapes

Honey bee waggle dance communication increases diversity of pollen diets in intensively managed agricultural landscapes

Season and landscape composition affect pollen foraging distances and habitat use of honey bees

Pollen Natural Resources For Bees In Slovakia

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