With the hammeringthat honeybee populations have taken over the last few years, farmers have been reminded how vital pollinators are for good yields. And as honeybee hives continue to be hit with odd maladies, the question is: Can native pollinators fill the gap?
Research in northwest Arkansas is looking at how bumblebees can fit the bill. Can they be enticed to artificial nesting boxes? Can farmers count on different species’ life cycles to pollinate certain crops?
For the next several years, Amber Tripodi, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, will be conducting studies to answer those, and other, questions. Among her comments:
On the reasons for researching bumblebees…
“I was drawn to insects as a tiny kid, just watching them. Entomology was just something I was naturally inclined toward. At the same time, I’m also very interested in sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation. Studying pollinators is a nice mix of my interests. We have a lot of interesting native bees that have special behaviors.
“Recently, with the honeybee declines, we began looking at what native pollinators might already be doing and how we might help them to pollinate our crops.”
On work other than the study on bumblebee nesting…
“There has been a lot of talk recently about bumblebees declining throughout the United States. Through work with honeybees, researchers began noticing that bumblebee populations were also tanking in some areas.
“In Arkansas, a survey on bumblebee species was done in the 1960s. One, the ‘American bumblebee,’ was called the ‘most common, widespread and abundant species in the state.’ But now, after collecting and sampling throughout the state, that doesn’t seem to hold true any more.
“So, one of the things I’m looking at is whether we can use genetic diversity information on populations to see if we can determine if bumblebee populations are stable or are declining.
“With the genetic diversity aspect, I’ve gathered a lot of interesting data. It would be nice to have a state distribution of bumblebees, county-by-county, and a good baseline to judge how well the populations are doing.”
For more, visit the following sites: http://comp.uark.edu/~aszalan/Apis/Bumble_Bee_Research.html and http://comp.uark.edu/~aszalan/Apis/Native_Pollinator_Outreach.html.
On bumblebee nesting habitat work…
“I’m building the boxes this winter and will start the first trial in the spring. We’ll see if any bumblebees move into the boxes and, if so, which ones.
“That will be a two-year trial and at the end I hope to have recommendations for ways farmers can use bumblebee houses to augment populations on their farm.
“Bumblebees typically live underground. The normal, natural nesting habitat for most species is abandoned rodent nests. So, there’s a defensible entrance — a tunnel with a constricted opening to easily defend their nest and honey. They use hair and straw from the departed mice as insulating material to keep the brood warm.
“Nest sizes vary. With some species, there may be 50 or so bumblebees. Other nests can be much larger — 400 or more individuals.”
On differences between honeybees and bumblebees…
“Honeybee colonies will last for two or three years. During that time, a queen produces thousands and thousands of workers that are the pollinators.
“Bumblebees, on the other hand, have an annual cycle. A bumblebee queen starts a colony in the springtime after overwintering by herself underground. When she finds a place to nest, she’ll go out and forage and start with a small pile of wax, pollen and nectar. She’ll then lay eggs on a small wax ‘pot.’
“She keeps those eggs warm, and when they hatch she feeds them on her own. Once raised, that first batch of workers take over. The queen stays in the nest and the workers go out and get food for the colony.
“With honeybees, when it’s time to start a new colony, the queen takes a large number of workers with her. When they find a good place to live, the workers immediately go out to collect pollen and nectar.