In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops
Abstract The areas devoted to agriculture that depend on pollinators have been sharply increased in the last decades with a concomitant growing global demand for pollination services. This forces to consider new strategies in pollinators’ management to improve their efficiency. To promote a precisio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22985-5 |
| _version_ | 1811207983682551808 |
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| author | Walter M. Farina Andrés Arenas Paula C. Díaz Cinthia Susic Martin María J. Corriale |
| author_facet | Walter M. Farina Andrés Arenas Paula C. Díaz Cinthia Susic Martin María J. Corriale |
| author_sort | Walter M. Farina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The areas devoted to agriculture that depend on pollinators have been sharply increased in the last decades with a concomitant growing global demand for pollination services. This forces to consider new strategies in pollinators’ management to improve their efficiency. To promote a precision pollination towards a specific crop, we developed two simple synthetic odorant mixtures that honey bees generalized with their respective natural floral scents of the crop. We chose two commercial crops for fruit production that often coexist in agricultural settings, the apple (Malus domesticus) and the pear trees (Pyrus communis). Feeding colonies with sucrose solution scented with the apple mimic (AM) or the pear mimic (PM) odour enabled the establishment of olfactory memories that can bias bees towards the flowers of these trees. Encompassing different experimental approaches, our results support the offering of scented food to improve foraging and pollination activities of honey bees. The circulation of AM-scented sucrose solution inside the hive promoted higher colony activity, probably associated with greater activity of nectar foragers. The offering of PM-scented sucrose solution did not increase colony activity but led to greater pollen collection, which is consistent with pear flowers offering mainly pollen as resources for the bees. Results obtained from apple and pear crops suggest that the offering of AM- and PM-scented sucrose solution increased fruit yields. This preliminary study highlights the role of in-hive olfactory learning to bias foraging preferences within pome fruit crops. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T04:12:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-425b7d5832904962b72c5f4fdf2d9321 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T04:12:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-425b7d5832904962b72c5f4fdf2d93212022-12-22T03:48:27ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-0112111310.1038/s41598-022-22985-5In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple cropsWalter M. Farina0Andrés Arenas1Paula C. Díaz2Cinthia Susic Martin3María J. Corriale4Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y NaturalesLaboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y NaturalesLaboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y NaturalesLaboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y NaturalesGrupo de Estudios sobre Biodiversidad en Agroecosistemas, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y NaturalesAbstract The areas devoted to agriculture that depend on pollinators have been sharply increased in the last decades with a concomitant growing global demand for pollination services. This forces to consider new strategies in pollinators’ management to improve their efficiency. To promote a precision pollination towards a specific crop, we developed two simple synthetic odorant mixtures that honey bees generalized with their respective natural floral scents of the crop. We chose two commercial crops for fruit production that often coexist in agricultural settings, the apple (Malus domesticus) and the pear trees (Pyrus communis). Feeding colonies with sucrose solution scented with the apple mimic (AM) or the pear mimic (PM) odour enabled the establishment of olfactory memories that can bias bees towards the flowers of these trees. Encompassing different experimental approaches, our results support the offering of scented food to improve foraging and pollination activities of honey bees. The circulation of AM-scented sucrose solution inside the hive promoted higher colony activity, probably associated with greater activity of nectar foragers. The offering of PM-scented sucrose solution did not increase colony activity but led to greater pollen collection, which is consistent with pear flowers offering mainly pollen as resources for the bees. Results obtained from apple and pear crops suggest that the offering of AM- and PM-scented sucrose solution increased fruit yields. This preliminary study highlights the role of in-hive olfactory learning to bias foraging preferences within pome fruit crops.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22985-5 |
| spellingShingle | Walter M. Farina Andrés Arenas Paula C. Díaz Cinthia Susic Martin María J. Corriale In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops Scientific Reports |
| title | In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops |
| title_full | In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops |
| title_fullStr | In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops |
| title_full_unstemmed | In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops |
| title_short | In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops |
| title_sort | in hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22985-5 |
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