Regulation of Pollen Foraging Activity  in &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Apis mellifera&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; Africanized  Honeybees Colonies

Lima, Erica Gomes de; Camargo, Simone Cristina; Santos, Pedro da Rosa; Oliveira, José Washington Santos; Toledo, Vagner de Alencar Arnaut de

doi:10.4236/as.2016.76034

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In contrast, the supply of pollen can vary dramatically from one day to the next depending on the weather conditions and quantities of flowers, while the demand for pollen by the colony changes gradually as the number of offspring increases or decreases [22]. Therefore, the bees store what is necessary for the maintenance of the young, and, according to the colony’s need, the workers change their behavior to collect pollen, decreasing or increasing the number of foragers, size of the pollen load, and, consequently, the area of stored pollen [23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food collection behavior ofApis melliferaandTetragonisca angustulabees inBrassica napusL. in response to different environmental covariates

Garcia

Oliveira

et al. 2018

Preprint

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28The objective was to evaluate the behavior of Apis mellifera and Tetragonisca 29 angustula bees in pollination tests in Brassica napus at different times of the day, 30 temperature and relative humidity. The experimental design was completely with eight 31 treatments and two pollination tests, repeated in five randomized blocks during seven 32 days of observations for two years, totaling 560 records. During the visits, the following 33 parameters were recorded: collected resources, nectar collection site, time spent on 34 flower, number of flowers visited in one minute, pollen load in the pollen basket and bee 35 contact with anthers and stigma. Data were analyzed using generalized linear models. The 36 number of Africanized and T. angustula bees collecting nectar increased with the passage 37 of time throughout the day and with the decrease of relative humidity. The same was 38 observed for nectar collection in both nectaries. The proportion of bees collecting pollen 39 was higher in the morning hours, as well as when there was an increase in temperature 40 for the two species of bees. Foraging behavior of A. mellifera in B. napus crop favored 41 its pollination, indifferent of which collected floral resource as they came into contact 42 with anthers and stigma. T. angustula bees performed pollination only during pollen 43 collection. Pollination of B. napus was more effective in the warmer hours of the morning, 44 when more of both species of bees carried out pollen collection. Due to its foraging 45 behavior, A. mellifera had greater efficiency for pollination of B. napus; however, the 46 association with T. angustula may potentiate the benefits generated for the crop by cross-47 pollination.48 49 50Pollination is considered an ecosystem service which provides benefits to plants 51 and pollinators, increasing the adaptive value (fitness) of both [1]. Also, pollination is 52 important for biodiversity conservation and food production. In agriculture, both the 53 farmer and the beekeeper benefit from pollinating through increased productivity [2]. 54Estimates performed by [3] indicated that 87.5% of angiosperms are pollinated by 55 animals and, on average, 33% of major agricultural crops depend to some degree on insect 56 pollination. 57 The pollination service by bees in Brazil generates a revenue of US$ 12-14 billion 58 [4]. Among the most important crops is the canola (Brassica napus L. var. oleifera), 59 which is the third most produced oilseed in the world and has been used as biodiesel [5]. 60 This plant has hermaphroditic flowers and it is self-compatible, and may produce fruits 61 and seeds by both self-pollination and by cross-pollination [6]. Studies have shown that 62 cross-pollination can increase production [7] and the economic value of canola grains [6]. 63 The dispersal of canola pollen grains is mediated by a variety of pollinating 64 insects, which are attracted by the aroma and color of their flowers, as well as by their 65 nutritional resources [8]. B. napus flowers have an average necta...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food collection behavior ofApis melliferaandTetragonisca angustulabees inBrassica napusL. in response to different environmental covariates

Garcia

Oliveira

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Unlike other flower-visiting solitary insects, honeybees collect large quantities of pollen and nectar [ 1 – 5 ]. Pollen foraging is a collective behavior that is precisely organized and carefully regulated depends on the pollen storage level in the hive, the available resources and the climatic conditions of the area [ 6 – 8 ]. Few studies have examined whether honeybee foraging decisions are sensitive to changes in colony conditions [ 9 – 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different colony management techniques were tested to improve honeybee pollination of less attractive crops [ 24 – 27 ]. These techniques require knowledge about the behavior of honeybees and the factors that influence the colony to collect more pollen that enhances pollination [ 8 ]. When pollens were removed from colonies, there was an associated increase in the number of pollen foragers, pollen amount and pollen load size [ 28 – 30 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollen trapping and sugar syrup feeding of honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) enhance pollen collection of less preferred flowers

Gemeda

Luo

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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Pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) is characterized by being self-incompatible and dependent on cross-pollination to set fruit. Honeybee (Apis mellifera) is considered the most important pollinator of pear. Nevertheless, limited pollen transfer has been cited as the main cause of poor fruit set in many pear orchards. Here, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) colony manipulations increase the pollen collection tendency of honeybees and (ii) the proportion of pollen loads being returned to the hive is from the target plant. The technique reliably and rapidly estimates the pollination of honeybees tested under different colony manipulations: (1) using pollen trapping (PT); (2) PT with sugar syrup feeding (SS) (PTSS); (3) SS alone and (4) control without PT and SS. The results clearly show that the pollen collection of honeybees during the experiment was significantly affected (P < 0.05) by colony manipulations. The mean amount of pollen harvested daily was higher for PTSS (19.4 g) and PT (16.4 g) than for SS (12.85 g) and control (8.7 g) colonies. Therefore, PTSS was the most effective treatment for increasing pear pollen collection; other treatments such as PT and SS could also be useful. This study was important for determining how the behavior of honeybee colonies is shaped through colony manipulation to enhance pollen collection of less preferred pear flowers, which is critical when pollination is required.

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Wisdom of honey bees: colony foraging is governed by colony needs

Sihag

2024

Eureka: LS

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Honey bees visit the flowers for two essential nutritional requirements, viz., pollen and nectar. Sometimes the foraging bees collect more nectar, whereas at other times they collect more pollen. What makes them take such decisions has been the interest of many honey bee scientists. The objective of this article was to find out about the drivers causing such changes in the foraging decisions of the honey bee colony. The published literature was examined to find an answer to this question. For this, published research on foraging behavior of honey bees was scanned on different search engines. From the published reports, it has become evident that for making a choice between these two food sources, a high level of colony wisdom is involved. Sometimes the colony engages in brisk pollen collection, whereas on other occasions it engages in brisk nectar collection. Given the scarcity of a particular food type in the colony, the latter takes immediate and wise decisions. The colony makes these changes in the foraging decision depending on the needs of the colony. For example, with the addition of the unsealed brood and honey stores in the colony, the latter increases pollen foraging and decreases nectar foraging activity. However, with the addition of the sealed brood, the colony does not significantly change foraging activity. Likewise, with the addition of pollen stores, the honey bee colony decreases pollen foraging and increases nectar foraging activity. However, these colony decisions are not long-lasting. After some 20 days, the colony resumes its normal behavioral plasticity of usual nectar and pollen foraging activity. This knowledge of honey bee wisdom regarding its foraging decisions will be highly useful in colony management for honey production and/or pollination of crops

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Regulation of Pollen Foraging Activity in <i>Apis mellifera</i> Africanized Honeybees Colonies

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Food collection behavior ofApis melliferaandTetragonisca angustulabees inBrassica napusL. in response to different environmental covariates

Food collection behavior ofApis melliferaandTetragonisca angustulabees inBrassica napusL. in response to different environmental covariates

Pollen trapping and sugar syrup feeding of honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) enhance pollen collection of less preferred flowers

Wisdom of honey bees: colony foraging is governed by colony needs

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