Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain.
Foraging bumblebees are normally associated with spring and summer in northern Europe. However, there have been sightings of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris during the warmer winters in recent years in southern England. But what floral resources are they relying upon during winter and how much winte...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2010-03-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2832779?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1828270739235536896 |
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| author | Ralph J Stelzer Lars Chittka Marc Carlton Thomas C Ings |
| author_facet | Ralph J Stelzer Lars Chittka Marc Carlton Thomas C Ings |
| author_sort | Ralph J Stelzer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Foraging bumblebees are normally associated with spring and summer in northern Europe. However, there have been sightings of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris during the warmer winters in recent years in southern England. But what floral resources are they relying upon during winter and how much winter forage can they collect?To test if urban areas in the UK provide a rich foraging niche for bees we set up colonies of B. terrestris in the field during two late winter periods (2005/6 & 2006/7) in London, UK, and measured their foraging performance. Fully automatic radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology was used in 2006/7 to enable us to record the complete foraging activity of individually tagged bees. The number of bumblebees present during winter (October 2007 to March 2008) and the main plants they visited were also recorded during transect walks. Queens and workers were observed throughout the winter, suggesting a second generation of bee colonies active during the winter months. Mass flowering shrubs such as Mahonia spp. were identified as important food resources. The foraging experiments showed that bees active during the winter can attain nectar and pollen foraging rates that match, and even surpass, those recorded during summer.B. terrestris in the UK are now able to utilise a rich winter foraging resource in urban parks and gardens that might at present still be under-exploited, opening up the possibility of further changes in pollinator phenology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:46:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8fb260354bc403a93b22e143bdb74db |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:46:13Z |
| publishDate | 2010-03-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8fb260354bc403a93b22e143bdb74db2022-12-22T02:59:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-03-0153e955910.1371/journal.pone.0009559Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain.Ralph J StelzerLars ChittkaMarc CarltonThomas C IngsForaging bumblebees are normally associated with spring and summer in northern Europe. However, there have been sightings of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris during the warmer winters in recent years in southern England. But what floral resources are they relying upon during winter and how much winter forage can they collect?To test if urban areas in the UK provide a rich foraging niche for bees we set up colonies of B. terrestris in the field during two late winter periods (2005/6 & 2006/7) in London, UK, and measured their foraging performance. Fully automatic radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology was used in 2006/7 to enable us to record the complete foraging activity of individually tagged bees. The number of bumblebees present during winter (October 2007 to March 2008) and the main plants they visited were also recorded during transect walks. Queens and workers were observed throughout the winter, suggesting a second generation of bee colonies active during the winter months. Mass flowering shrubs such as Mahonia spp. were identified as important food resources. The foraging experiments showed that bees active during the winter can attain nectar and pollen foraging rates that match, and even surpass, those recorded during summer.B. terrestris in the UK are now able to utilise a rich winter foraging resource in urban parks and gardens that might at present still be under-exploited, opening up the possibility of further changes in pollinator phenology.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2832779?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Ralph J Stelzer Lars Chittka Marc Carlton Thomas C Ings Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain. PLoS ONE |
| title | Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain. |
| title_full | Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain. |
| title_fullStr | Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain. |
| title_short | Winter active bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) achieve high foraging rates in urban Britain. |
| title_sort | winter active bumblebees bombus terrestris achieve high foraging rates in urban britain |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2832779?pdf=render |
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