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Zhang G, Murray CJ, St. Clair AL, Cass RP, Dolezal AG, Schulte LA, Toth AL, O’Neal ME. Native vegetation embedded in landscapes dominated by corn and soybean improves honey bee health and productivity. J Appl Ecol 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ge Zhang
- Department of Entomology Iowa State University Ames United States of America
- Department of Entomology Washington State University Pullman United States of America
| | - Caroline J. Murray
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management Iowa State University Ames United States of America
| | - Ashley L. St. Clair
- Department of Entomology Iowa State University Ames United States of America
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Iowa State University Ames United States of America
- Department of Entomology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Urbana United States of America
| | - Randall P. Cass
- Department of Entomology Iowa State University Ames United States of America
| | - Adam G. Dolezal
- Department of Entomology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Urbana United States of America
| | - Lisa A. Schulte
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management Iowa State University Ames United States of America
| | - Amy L. Toth
- Department of Entomology Iowa State University Ames United States of America
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Iowa State University Ames United States of America
| | - Matthew E. O’Neal
- Department of Entomology Iowa State University Ames United States of America
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St. Clair AL, Suresh S, Dolezal AG. Access to prairie pollen affects honey bee queen fecundity in the field and lab. Front Sustain Food Syst 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2022.908667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Beekeepers experience high annual losses of colonies, with environmental stressors like pathogens, reduced forage, and pesticides as contributors. Some factors, like nutritional stress from reduced flower abundance or diversity, are more pronounced in agricultural landscapes where extensive farming limits pollen availability. In addition to affecting other aspects of colony health, quantity and quality of pollen available are important for colony brood production and likely for queen egg laying. While some US beekeepers report >50% of colony loss due to queen failure, the causes of poor-quality queens are poorly understood. Access to resources from native prairie habitat is suggested as a valuable late-season resource for honey bees that can reverse colony growth declines, but it is not clear how prairie forage influences queen egg laying. We hypothesized that the pollen resources present in an extensive Midwestern corn/soybean agroecosystem during the critical late season period affect honey bee queen egg laying and that access to native prairies can increase queen productivity. To test this, we designed a field experiment in Iowa, keeping colonies in either soybean or prairie landscapes during a critical period of forage dearth, and we quantified queen egg laying as well as pollen collection (quantity and species). Then, using pollen collected in the field experiments, we created representative dietary mixtures, which we fed to bees using highly controlled laboratory cages to test how consumption of these diets affected the egg laying of naive queens. In two out of three years, queens in prairies laid more eggs compared to those in soybean fields. Pollen quantity did not vary between the two landscapes, but composition of species did, and was primarily driven by collection of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis). When pollen representative of the two landscapes was fed to caged bees in the laboratory queens fed prairie pollen laid more eggs, suggesting that pollen from this landscape plays an important role in queen productivity. More work is needed to tease apart the drivers of these differences, but understanding how egg laying is regulated is useful for designing landscapes for sustainable pollinator management and can inform feeding regimes for beekeepers.
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Pritchard ZA, Hendriksma HP, St Clair AL, Stein DS, Dolezal AG, O’Neal ME, Toth AL. Do Viruses From Managed Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Endanger Wild Bees in Native Prairies? Environ Entomol 2021; 50:455-466. [PMID: 33492382 PMCID: PMC8064301 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvaa181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2020] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Populations of wild and managed pollinators are declining in North America, and causes include increases in disease pressure and decreases in flowering resources. Tallgrass prairies can provide floral resources for managed honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Apis mellifera Linnaeus) and wild bees. Honey bees kept near prairies may compete with wild bees for floral resources, and potentially transfer viral pathogens to wild bees. Measurements of these potential interactions are lacking, especially in the context of native habitat conservation. To address this, we assessed abundance and richness of wild bees in prairies with and without honey bee hives present, and the potential spillover of several honey bee viruses to bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombus Latrielle). We found no indication that the presence of honey bee hives over 2 yr had a negative effect on population size of wild bee taxa, though a potential longer-term effect remains unknown. All levels of viruses quantified in bumble bees were lower than those observed in honey bees. Higher levels of deformed wing virus and Israeli acute paralysis virus were found in Bombus griseocollis DeGeer (Hymenoptera: Apidae) collected at sites with hives than those without hives. These data suggest that the presence of honey bees in tallgrass prairie could increase wild bee exposure to viruses. Additional studies on cross-species transmission of viruses are needed to inform decisions regarding the cohabitation of managed bees within habitat utilized by wild bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe A Pritchard
- Montana Entomology Collection, Montana State University, Marsh Labs, Bozeman, MT
- Department of Ecology Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Osborne Dr., Ames, IA
- Corresponding author, e-mail:
| | - Harmen P Hendriksma
- Department of Ecology Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Osborne Dr., Ames, IA
| | - Ashley L St Clair
- Department of Ecology Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Osborne Dr., Ames, IA
- Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, ATRB, Ames, IA
| | - David S Stein
- Department of Ecology Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Osborne Dr., Ames, IA
| | - Adam G Dolezal
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
| | | | - Amy L Toth
- Department of Ecology Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Osborne Dr., Ames, IA
- Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, ATRB, Ames, IA
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St. Clair AL, Dolezal AG, O’Neal ME, Toth AL. Pan Traps for Tracking Honey Bee Activity-Density: A Case Study in Soybeans. Insects 2020; 11:insects11060366. [PMID: 32545613 PMCID: PMC7348912 DOI: 10.3390/insects11060366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
To study how honey bees utilize forage resources and guide pollination management plans in crops, a multitude of methods have been developed, but most are time consuming, costly, and require specialized skills. Colored pan traps for monitoring activity-density are a simple, efficient, and cost-effective alternative; however, their usefulness for studying honey bees is not well described. We examined if trap color, location within a field, and the presence of managed colonies affected estimates of honey bee activity-density within soybean fields. Soybeans are visited by pollinators but do not require these visits for seed development. Pan traps, especially those colored blue, captured more honey bees when colonies were present. There were no differences in activity-density based on placement of traps within a field nor with increasing distance from colonies. Throughout the season, activity-density in soybeans was constant but tripled after soybean ceased blooming, suggesting spikes in pan trap captures may indicate periods of forage scarcity. Activity-density did not correlate with the population size of worker bees at a site, but did correlate with number of colonies present. We conclude that pan traps can be useful for assessing honey bee activity, particularly for estimating colony presence and identifying times of forage scarcity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley L. St. Clair
- Department of Ecology, Iowa State University, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, 251 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA;
- Correspondence:
| | - Adam G. Dolezal
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA;
| | - Matthew E. O’Neal
- Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, 1344 ATRB 2213 Pammel Dr., Ames, IA 50011, USA;
| | - Amy L. Toth
- Department of Ecology, Iowa State University, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, 251 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA;
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA;
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Dolezal AG, St Clair AL, Zhang G, Toth AL, O'Neal ME. Native habitat mitigates feast-famine conditions faced by honey bees in an agricultural landscape. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:25147-25155. [PMID: 31767769 PMCID: PMC6911205 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1912801116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Intensive agriculture can contribute to pollinator decline, exemplified by alarmingly high annual losses of honey bee colonies in regions dominated by annual crops (e.g., midwestern United States). As more natural or seminatural landscapes are transformed into monocultures, there is growing concern over current and future impacts on pollinators. To forecast how landscape simplification can affect bees, we conducted a replicated, longitudinal assessment of honey bee colony growth and nutritional health in an intensively farmed region where much of the landscape is devoted to production of corn and soybeans. Surprisingly, colonies adjacent to soybean fields surrounded by more cultivated land grew more during midseason than those in areas of lower cultivation. Regardless of the landscape surrounding the colonies, all experienced a precipitous decline in colony weight beginning in August and ended the season with reduced fat stores in individual bees, both predictors of colony overwintering failure. Patterns of forage availability and colony nutritional state suggest that late-season declines were caused by food scarcity during a period of extremely limited forage. To test if habitat enhancements could ameliorate this response, we performed a separate experiment in which colonies provided access to native perennials (i.e., prairie) were rescued from both weight loss and reduced fat stores, suggesting the rapid decline observed in these agricultural landscapes is not inevitable. Overall, these results show that intensively farmed areas can provide a short-term feast that cannot sustain the long-term nutritional health of colonies; reintegration of biodiversity into such landscapes may provide relief from nutritional stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam G Dolezal
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801;
| | - Ashley L St Clair
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
- Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
| | - Ge Zhang
- Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
| | - Amy L Toth
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
- Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
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