Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey bees
Abstract Honey bees provide invaluable economic and ecological services while simultaneously facing stressors that may compromise their health. For example, agricultural landscapes, such as a row crop system, are necessary for our food production, but they may cause poor nutrition in bees from a lac...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8979 |
| _version_ | 1811318720931299328 |
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| author | Mary R. Silliman Roger Schürch Sean Malone Sally V. Taylor Margaret J. Couvillon |
| author_facet | Mary R. Silliman Roger Schürch Sean Malone Sally V. Taylor Margaret J. Couvillon |
| author_sort | Mary R. Silliman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Honey bees provide invaluable economic and ecological services while simultaneously facing stressors that may compromise their health. For example, agricultural landscapes, such as a row crop system, are necessary for our food production, but they may cause poor nutrition in bees from a lack of available nectar and pollen. Here, we investigated the foraging dynamics of honey bees in a row crop environment. We decoded, mapped, and analyzed 3459 waggle dances, which communicate the location of where bees collected food, for two full foraging seasons (April–October, 2018–2019). We found that bees recruited nestmates mostly locally (<2 km) throughout the season. The shortest communicated median distances (0.474 and 0.310 km), indicating abundant food availability, occurred in July in both years, which was when our row crops were in full bloom. We determined, by plotting and analyzing the communicated locations, that almost half of the mid‐summer recruitment was to row crops, with 37% (2018) and 50% (2019) of honey bee dances indicating these fields. Peanut was the most attractive in July, followed by corn and cotton but not soybean. Overall, row crop fields are indicated by a surprisingly large proportion of recruitment dances, suggesting that similar agricultural landscapes may also provide mid‐summer foraging opportunities for honey bees. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:30:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-330245fe617c491abe9c172f66db3d9d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:30:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-330245fe617c491abe9c172f66db3d9d2022-12-22T02:46:51ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582022-06-01126n/an/a10.1002/ece3.8979Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey beesMary R. Silliman0Roger Schürch1Sean Malone2Sally V. Taylor3Margaret J. Couvillon4Department of Entomology (MC0319) Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia USADepartment of Entomology (MC0319) Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia USATidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center Virginia Tech Suffolk Virginia USATidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center Virginia Tech Suffolk Virginia USADepartment of Entomology (MC0319) Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia USAAbstract Honey bees provide invaluable economic and ecological services while simultaneously facing stressors that may compromise their health. For example, agricultural landscapes, such as a row crop system, are necessary for our food production, but they may cause poor nutrition in bees from a lack of available nectar and pollen. Here, we investigated the foraging dynamics of honey bees in a row crop environment. We decoded, mapped, and analyzed 3459 waggle dances, which communicate the location of where bees collected food, for two full foraging seasons (April–October, 2018–2019). We found that bees recruited nestmates mostly locally (<2 km) throughout the season. The shortest communicated median distances (0.474 and 0.310 km), indicating abundant food availability, occurred in July in both years, which was when our row crops were in full bloom. We determined, by plotting and analyzing the communicated locations, that almost half of the mid‐summer recruitment was to row crops, with 37% (2018) and 50% (2019) of honey bee dances indicating these fields. Peanut was the most attractive in July, followed by corn and cotton but not soybean. Overall, row crop fields are indicated by a surprisingly large proportion of recruitment dances, suggesting that similar agricultural landscapes may also provide mid‐summer foraging opportunities for honey bees.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8979Apis melliferaforaging ecologypeanut foragingrow cropswaggle dance |
| spellingShingle | Mary R. Silliman Roger Schürch Sean Malone Sally V. Taylor Margaret J. Couvillon Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey bees Ecology and Evolution Apis mellifera foraging ecology peanut foraging row crops waggle dance |
| title | Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey bees |
| title_full | Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey bees |
| title_fullStr | Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey bees |
| title_full_unstemmed | Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey bees |
| title_short | Row crop fields provide mid‐summer forage for honey bees |
| title_sort | row crop fields provide mid summer forage for honey bees |
| topic | Apis mellifera foraging ecology peanut foraging row crops waggle dance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8979 |
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