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Diversity and nutritional value of pollen harvested by honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies during lowbush blueberry and cranberry (Ericaceae) pollination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2020

Claude Dufour Open the ORCID record for Claude Dufour [Opens in a new window] ,
Valérie Fournier  and
Pierre Giovenazzo
Claude Dufour*
Affiliation:
Département de biologie, Université Laval, 2325, rue de l’Université, Ville de Québec, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
Valérie Fournier
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche et innovation sur les végétaux, Université Laval, 2480, boulevard Hochelaga, Ville de Québec, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
Pierre Giovenazzo
Affiliation:
Département de biologie, Université Laval, 2325, rue de l’Université, Ville de Québec, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: claude.dufour.5@ulaval.ca
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Abstract

The growth of the commercial pollination industry raises important concerns regarding honey bee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus; Hymenoptera: Apidae) health and development. While providing such services, honey bees are often exposed to undiversified pollen sources that may contribute to nutritional deficiencies, notably in protein and amino acids. To understand how honey bees are affected during provision of pollination services, we compared honey bee colonies that pollinated lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton; Ericaceae) and/or cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton; Ericaceae) crops (management strategies) with control colonies in a diversified farmland environment. We identified the floral species of pollen collected by honey bee colonies in those crops compared to pollen collected by control colonies. We also analysed the protein and essential amino acid content of collected pollen and bee bread and measured the nutritional impact of pollination services on honey bee colonies. We found that honey bees providing blueberry and/or cranberry pollination services are exposed to a less diversified pollen diet than colonies located in a farmland environment, especially in a cranberry field. There was a significantly lower proportion of crude protein content in collected and stored pollen during provision of blueberry pollination services, which led to a smaller brood population. Many nutritional deficiencies were measured with regards to essential amino acids.

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Research Papers
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The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 152 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 622 - 645
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© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Entomological Society of Canada

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Footnotes

Subject editor: Shelley Hoover

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