Honey bee behavior changes in the presence of endemic pollinators

Research shows that with no additional inputs, pollination and fruit set were increased in the presence of endemic pollinators.  This much makes perfect sense and is what one would expect to hear.  But the more intriguing discovery was that domestic honey bee behavior also changes in the presence of other pollinators.

The studies findings showed that honey bees normally spend the majority of their time in the upper crown of the tree.  However, when other pollinators were present they moved into the lower portion of the canopy.  In this respect the overall efficiency of the honey bees was increased.

They also found that endemic pollinators were commonly able to operate in lower temperatures and in higher winds than honey bees.  This makes overall pollination services more resilient in the face of less than optimum weather conditions.  This is extremely important in early flowering crops such as almonds, which may bloom when weather conditions are not as favorable for honey bees.

The inter-species relationships and population dynamics of insects are extremely complex and fragile.  This is a little understood area of agricultural science and is one that we have posted on before.  Ultimately, species diversity is the key to agricultural resilience.  In all studies fruit set and yield were increased with no additional inputs or agricultural intensity.  An intact ecology provides the most benefit for the least work, while providing habitat as well.  Insect diversity is a cornerstone part of this and without healthy insect populations, the local ecology suffers greatly.

The study was conducted by researches at 3 different universities: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

http://phys.org/news/2013-01-biodiversity-important-pollination-california-almond.html

The study by researchers in Germany at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and California at UC Berkeley and Davis

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-biodiversity-important-pollination-california-almond.html#jCp

This honey bee behaviour changed and their pollination effectiveness was greater than in orchards where other bees were absent. Furthermore, orchards with wild bees had a greater proportion fruit set. These findings show that wild pollinators not only contribute directly to almond pollination, but also indirectly through increasing the pollination service provided by the honey bees. A second study in the same system published in Global Change Biology (27 Nov 2012)2 found two other mechanisms by which pollinator diversity improved pollination service to almond. Firstly, they found that honey bees preferred to visit flowers in the top parts of the almond trees. Where wild pollinators were present, they often visited the lower parts of the trees, filling the gap in pollination service left by the honey bees. Secondly, in high winds, orchards with only honey bees present had almost no pollination service as the honey bees were not flying. In orchards with a diversity of pollinators, pollination service was buffered to an extent by the wild bees. Two new studies show why biodiversity is important for pollination services in California almond This image shows honey beehives in an almond orchard. Credit: C. Brittain During high winds, the wild bees were still observed visiting almond flowers. Wild pollinators can therefore help sustain pollination service under extreme weather conditions, when the service by honey bees declines. This is particularly important in almond as it flowers early in the year when the weather conditions can be unfavourable for bee flight.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-biodiversity-important-pollination-california-almond.html#jCp]\l;kjfdksahf

honey bee behaviour changed and their pollination effectiveness was greater than in orchards where other bees were absent. Furthermore, orchards with wild bees had a greater proportion fruit set. These findings show that wild pollinators not only contribute directly to almond pollination, but also indirectly through increasing the pollination service provided by the honey bees. A second study in the same system published in Global Change Biology (27 Nov 2012)2 found two other mechanisms by which pollinator diversity improved pollination service to almond. Firstly, they found that honey bees preferred to visit flowers in the top parts of the almond trees. Where wild pollinators were present, they often visited the lower parts of the trees, filling the gap in pollination service left by the honey bees. Secondly, in high winds, orchards with only honey bees present had almost no pollination service as the honey bees were not flying. In orchards with a diversity of pollinators, pollination service was buffered to an extent by the wild bees. Two new studies show why biodiversity is important for pollination services in California almond This image shows honey beehives in an almond orchard. Credit: C. Brittain During high winds, the wild bees were still observed visiting almond flowers. Wild pollinators can therefore help sustain pollination service under extreme weather conditions, when the service by honey bees declines. This is particularly important in almond as it flowers early in the year when the weather conditions can be unfavourable for bee flight.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-biodiversity-important-pollination-california-almond.html#jCp