Seasonal specialisation in floral resource use by honeybee colonies
reveals periods of food shortage in a diverse horticultural and
agricultural landscape.
Abstract
Availability of suitable nectar and pollen resources is a limiting
factor for pollinator survival, with both overall resource quantity and
quality, along with provision throughout the season, being critical.
Yet, our understanding of how the selection of floral resources changes
over time, and how this relates to floral availability within the
landscape is limited. To fill this knowledge gap, we characterise floral
use by honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies, in a diverse horticultural
and agricultural landscape, from April to September, over two years,
using pollen DNA metabarcoding of honey samples. We compared the pollen
found to the availability of host plants within the surrounding
landscape using floral surveys. Honeybees used a total of 143 plant
taxa, but only 10 of these were determined as major sources
(>10% of total sequence reads in any month) and total
plant use represented a small proportion of the available floral
resources (23% of genera). Distinct patterns of diet specialisation
were identified in June and August, where colonies diverged in their
floral preferences before re-aligning in July and September. Following
optimal foraging theory, these patterns represent periods of resource
limitation. Honeybees showed a preference for flowering trees in the
spring, followed by shrubs and herbs in summer and used native and
near-native plants more than horticultural plants, as major food
sources. DNA metabarcoding allows an increased ecological insight into
floral resource use by honeybees and highlights the importance of
providing continuous and sufficient floral resources throughout the
year.