Pollination by native, non commercial bumble bees in

Oregon crops

Sujaya Rao

Oregon State University

Acknowledgements

Kim Skyrm (PhD thesis): pesticide study, bumble bee colony development

Kim Phillips (MS thesis): cranberry cage study

Melissa Broussard (Undergraduate Honors thesis): cranberry bee

diversity; honey bee and bumble bee comparison

Sarah Maxfield-Taylor (Undergraduate research): pollen and nematode

studies

NSF-REU (Undergraduate summer research): pollen and nematode

studies

Nicole Anderson (County extension): red clover foragers

W. P. Stephen (Emeritus): blueberry and red clover cage studies

Mike Juhl (The “Bee Man”): bumble bee rearing

Blueberry, cranberry and red clover seed producers: field sites and

funding

Agro-ecosystems:

An abundance of food available but in isolated

patches

Temporal – not long enough for the life cycle of a

bumble bee colony

Spring

Summer

Late summer

Mutualistic relationship

Ag landscapes Bumble bee colonies

Record yields Population growth

Willamette Valley in Western Oregon

Portland

Salem

Eugene

(Wiley,2003; Defenders of Wildlife)

California

Washington

Western Oregon

Climate – mild rainy winter, dry summer

Agriculture – diverse, over 200 crops including several

that are bee-pollinated; many for seed favored by

climate

Urban areas - limited; small and large gardens

State has a rich history of development of non-

Apis bees for agriculture

W. P. Stephen

Nomia melanderi, Alkali bee

Megachile rotundata,

leaf cutting bee

Common native pollinator

Queens taken to common rearing facilities for production of colonies

Speculated that colonies returned to west were infected with a

pathogen

Even though the colonies were used only for greenhouse vegetable

production, a few escaped.

Now the species considered to be near extinction on the coast

Bombus occidentalis

Ban on introduction of non-native bumble bees

North American species, B. impatiens is not native

Growers have to depend on native populations

Oregon State University research:

Native bees in agroecosystems

Assessment of the diversity and abundance of native

bumble bees

Pollination efficiency of honey bees and bumble bees

Foraging behaviors

Bumble bee colony development

Three systems:

Cranberry

Blueberry

Red Clover for seed

Assessment of diversity and abundance

Cereal leaf beetle pest

Andre

na

Apis

Bom

bus

Cera

tina

Melis

sodes

Syn

halo

nia

Colle

tes

Agapost

em

on

Halic

tus

Lasi

oglo

ssum

Lasi

oglo

ssum

(st

s)M

egach

ile

Osm

ia

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400# o

f B

ees

Andrenidae Apidae Halictidae MegachilidaeColletidae

Cranberry beds

Bumblebee species

B. californicus

B. melanopygus

B. mixtus

B. vosnesenskii

1%

17%

28% 54%

Family Species Blueberry1,2

Red Clover1,3

Colletidae Hylaeus calvus (Metz) √ √

Hylaeus rudbeckiae Cockerell and Casad √ √

Halictidae Agapostemon texanus Cresson √ √

Agapostemon virescens (Fabricius) √ √

Halictus confusus Smith √

Halictus farinosus Smith √ √

Halictus ligatus Say √ √

Halictus rubicundus (Christ) √ √

Halictus tripartitus Cockerell √ √

Lasioglossum mellipes (Crawford) √ √

Lasioglossum olympiae (Cockerell) √ √

Lasioglossum pacificum (Cockerell) √ √

Lasioglossum sisymbrii (Cockerell) √

Lasioglossum titusi (Crawford) √

Lasioglossum trizonatum (Cresson) √ √

Sphecodes sp. √ √

Andrenidae Andrena sp. √ √

Meghachilidae Anthidium sp. √

Heriades sp. √

Megachile brevis Say √

Megachile perihirta Cockerell √

Osmia lignaria Say √ √

Osmia sp. √ (2) √ (5)

Apidae Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana

Cockerell

√

Anthophora urbana Cresson √

Bombus appositus Cresson √ √

Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handlirsch √

Bombus californicus Smith √ √

Bombus caliginosus (Frison) √

Bombus griseocollis (DeGeer) √ √

Bombus melanopygus Nylander √ √

Bombus mixtus Cresson √ √

Bombus nevadensis Cresson √ √

Bombus occidentalis Greene √

Bombus sitkensis Nylander √

Bombus vosnesenskii Radoszkowski √ √

Ceratina acantha Provancher √ √

Ceratina micheneri Daly √

Ceratina nanula Cockerell √

Melissodes agilis Cresson √

Melissodes bimatris LaBerge √

Melissodes robustior Cockerell √

Psythirus sp. √

Species Site 1* Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5 Site 6

Bombus appositus 3-5-0 0-1-0

Bombus californicus 3-0-0 1-1-0 6-0-0 10-1-0 1-0-0 3-1-0

Bombus melanopygus 1-29-0 0-14-0 0-2-0 0-5-0 0-8-0

Bombus mixtus 0-5-0 1-32-0 0-1-0 0-12-0 0-2-0 0-2-0

Bombus nevadensis 1-0-0 15-0-0

Bombus vosnesenskii 0-1-0 7-28-0 2-2-0 0-6-0 0-6-0 2-18-0

Blueberry bloom - 3 weeks in May

Bumble bee species

July 10-11 July 26-27 August 14-15

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

B. appositus 0-0-1 0-0-1 0-2-0 0-1-3 0-2-0 0-1-4

B. californicus 1-0-0 0-1-0 0-13-0 0-1-0 0-2-1

B. griseocollis 0-3-0 0-3-8 2-0-0 0-3-7

B. mixtus 0-2-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-2-0

B. nevadensis 0-1-0 0-10-0 0-10-0 0-1-1 0-3-0 0-1-1

B. vosnesenskii 0-22-3 0-24-0 0-23-0 0-52-11 0-64-0 0-51-0 1-59-212 0-208-195 0-52-155

Red clover seed bloom- 6 weeks in July-August

Bombus occidentalis

6 specimens captured in blue traps over 5 years

Comparison of pollination efficiencies

under caged conditions

Treatment Yield

Apis mellifera **

Bombus vosnesenskii **

Control – no bees *

Open pollinated ***

Cranberry Blueberry

Red Clover

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 800

5

10

15

20

25

30

Apis mellifera

Maximum Wind Speed (m/s)

# o

f B

ee

s

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 800

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Bombus spp.

Maximum Wind Speed (m/s)

# o

f B

ee

s

Maximum Wind Speed and Foraging

Middle 50%11.18-26.84

m/s

Middle 50%11.18-26.84

m/s

Open pollinated – record yields 13 tons/acre

1-5 honey bee hives/acre

Acetolysis of pollen from pollen traps placed

in honey bee hives in commercial fields

0

10

20

30

40

50

602009 – 350 loads

0

10

20

30

40

50

602010 – 500 loads

% o

f al

l po

llen

load

sBlueberry

Red Clover

0

10

20

30

40

5060

70

80

90

100

Early Peak Late

% o

f al

l po

llen

loa

ds

Bloom

Bumble bee abundance during clover bloom

70 % bloom 50 % bloom

0

5

10

15

20

25

7/7/07 7/12/07 7/17/07 7/22/07 7/27/07 8/1/07 8/6/07 8/11/07

Ave

rage

# b

ees

/ minut

e

Num

ber

of

bee

sCommercial fields with and without honey bee hive rentals

Bumble bees

B. melanopygus B. vosnesenskii

B. californicus

B. appositus

B. nevadensis

B. griseocollis

B. mixtus

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

B app

ositu

s

B. cal

iforn

icus

B. gris

eoco

llis

B mel

anop

ygus

B. mix

tus

B. nev

aden

sis

Workers

Queens

Tota

l u

mb

er

of

fora

gin

g b

um

ble

bees

Blueberry bloom

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

B. app

ositu

s

B. cal

iforn

icus

B. gris

eoco

llis

B. mix

tus

B. nev

aden

sis

Workers

Queens

Tota

l um

ber

of

fora

gin

g b

um

ble

bees

Red clover seed bloom

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Blueberries Red Clover

Workers

Queens

Tota

l um

ber

of

fora

gin

g b

um

ble

bee

sBombus vosnesenskii

Spotted wing Drosophila

High cash value; pesticides

maximum field rate

2X maximum field rate

Brigade 2EC

0

20

40

60

80

100

24 hrs 48 hrs 72 hrs

untreated check

low

high

2X high

untreated check

minimum field rateBrigade 2EC

0

20

40

60

80

100

24 hrs 48 hrs 72 hrs

untreated check

low

high

2X high

Queen mortality

Pristine

0

20

40

60

80

100

24 hrs 48 hrs 72 hrs

% m

ort

alit

y (

avg ±

s.e

.)

Admire 2

0

20

40

60

80

100

24 hrs 48 hrs 72 hrs

% m

ort

alit

y (

avg ±

s.e

.)

Success

0

20

40

60

80

100

24 hrs 48 hrs 72 hrs

% m

ort

alit

y (

avg ±

s.e

.)

Low cash value

Replaced with wheat

Year-to-year variations in abundance

Need to augment the native populations

Bumble bee rearing

Commercial – Mike Juhl – 7 species (B.

vosnesenskii, B. californicus, B. melanopygus, B.

mixtus, B. nevadensis, B. sitkensis, B. bifarius)

Lab studies – impacts of pollen and honey on

colony development

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

no nectar low standard high

% m

ort

ali

ty (

avg

± s

.e.)

ejection

within-clump

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

no pollen low standard high

% m

ort

alit

y (

avg ±

s.e

.)

ejection

within-clump

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

no pollen low standard high

incre

ase in b

rood (

avg ±

s.e

.)

egg clump

larval clump

pupae

a a

a b

a

Growth

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

no nectar low standard high

incre

ase

in

bro

od

(a

vg

± s

.e.) egg clumps

larval clumps

pupae

Pollen

Nectar

Mortality

Nectar

Pollen

NSF REU – Pollination Biology

02468

101214161820

Number

of Queens

Nematode

Abundance with

Different BombusSpecies

No Nematodes

Queens infected with a nematode, Sphaerularia bombi

2009 – 15% infected (n=30)

2010 – 30% infected (n=30)

Bumble bee conservation

Ag landscapes Bumble bee colonies

Record yields Population growth

Judicious pesticide use

Maintenance of bee pollination crops that

bloom in sequence

Augmentation with commercial colonies

Low disease incidence

Thanks!