Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Net energetic advantage drives honey bees (Apis mellifera L) to nectar larceny in Vaccinium ashei Reade

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.) act as primary nectar thieves in rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei Reade), piercing corollas laterally to imbibe nectar at basal nectaries. Honey bees (Apis mellifera L) learn to visit these perforations and thus become secondary nectar thieves. We tested the hypothesis that honey bees make this behavioral switch in response to an energetic advantage realized by nectar-robbing flower visits. Nectar volume and sugar quantity were higher in intact than perforated flowers, but bees (robbers) visiting perforated flowers were able to extract a higher percentage of available nectar and sugar so that absolute amount of sugar (mg) removed by one bee visit is the same for each flower type. However, because perforated flowers facilitate higher rates of bee flower visitation and the same or higher rates of nectar ingestion, they are rendered more profitable than intact flowers in temporal terms. Accordingly, net energy (J) gain per second flower handling time was higher for robbers on most days sampled. We conclude that the majority evidence indicates an energetic advantage for honey bees that engage in secondary nectar thievery in V. ashei.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Corbet SA (2003) Nectar sugar content: estimating standing crop and secretion rate in the field. Apidologie 34:1–10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corbet SA, Saville NM, Fussell M, Prys-Jones OE, Unwin DM (1995) The competition box: a graphical aid to forecasting pollinator performance. J Appl Ecol 32:707–719

    Google Scholar 

  • Dafni A (1992) Pollination ecology: a practical approach. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dedej S (2004) Bee foraging behavior and pollinating activity on rabbiteye blueberry Vaccinium ashei Reade. PhD Thesis, University of Georgia, Athens

  • Dedej S, Delaplane KS (2004) Nectar-robbing carpenter bees reduce seed-setting capability of honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in rabbiteye blueberry Vaccinium ashei Reade ‘Climax’. Environ Entomol 33:100–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Delaplane KS, Mayer DF (2000) Crop pollination by bees. CABI, Oxon

  • Faegri K, Van der Pijl LW (1979) The principles of pollination ecology (3rd edn). Pergamon, Oxford

  • Farina WM, Wainselboim AJ (2001) Changes in thoracic temperature of honey bees while receiving nectar from foragers collecting at different reward rates. J Exp Biol 204:1653–1658

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Free JB (1993) Insect pollination of crops. Academic, London

  • Gilbert FS, Haines N, Dickson K (1991) Empty flowers. Funct Ecol 5:29–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Harder LD, Cruzan MB (1990) An evaluation of the physiological and evolutionary influences of inflorescence size and flower depth on nectar production. Funct Ecol 4: 559–572

    Google Scholar 

  • Harder LD, Real RA (1987) Why are bumblebees risk-averse? Ecology 68:1104–1108

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison JF, Camazine S, Marden JH, Kirkton SD, Rozo A, Yang X (2001) Mite not make it home: tracheal mites reduce the safety margin for oxygen delivery of flying honeybees. J Exp Biol 204:805–814

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich B (1993) The hot-blooded insects: strategies and mechanisms of thermoregulation. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass

  • Hodges CM, Wolf LL (1981) Optimal foraging in bumblebees—why is nectar left behind in flowers? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 9:41–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inouye DW (1983) The ecology of nectar robbing. In: Bentley B, Elias T (eds) The biology of nectaries. Columbia University Press, New York

  • Irwin RE, Brody AK, Waser NM (2001) The impact of floral larceny on individuals, populations, and communities. Oecologia 129 (2):161–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kearns CA, Inouye DW (1993) Techniques for the pollination biologist. University Press of Colorado, Boulder

  • Lyrene PM (1994) Variation within and among blueberry taxa in flower size and shape. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 119:1039–1042

    Google Scholar 

  • Maloof JE (2001) The effect of bumble bee nectar robbery on plant reproductive success and pollinator behavior. Am J Bot 88:1960–1965

    Google Scholar 

  • Maloof JE, Inouye DW (2000) Are nectar robbers cheaters or mutualists? Ecology 81:2651–2661

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro L (2001) Reproductive biology and effect of nectar robbing on fruit production in Macleania bullata (Ericaceae). Plant Ecol 152:59–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Núñez JA, Giurfa M (1996) Motivation and regulation of honey bee foraging. Bee World 77:182–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Pleasants JM (1983) Nectar production in Ipomopsis aggregata (Polemoniaceae). Am J Bot 70:1468–1475

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute (1992) SAS/STAT user’s guide, version 6, 4th edn. SAS Institute, Cary

  • Schmidt-Nielsen K (1997) Energy metabolism. In: Schmidt-Nielsen K (ed) Animal physiology, adaptation and environment, 5th edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 169–214

  • Seeley TD (1985) Honeybee ecology: a study of adaptation in social life. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Stabentheiner A, Vollmann J, Kovac H, Crailsheim K (2003) Oxygen consumption and body temperature of active and resting honeybees. J Insect Physiol 49:881–889

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stout JC, Allen JA, Goulson D (2000) Nectar robbing, forager efficiency and seed set: bumblebees foraging on the self-incompatible plant Linaria vulgaris (Scrophulariaceae). Acta Oecol 21:277–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suarez RK, Lighton JRB, Joos B, Roberts SP, Harrison JF (1996) Energy metabolism, enzymatic flux capacities, and metabolic flux rates in flying honeybees. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:12616–12620

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winston ML (1987) The biology of the honey bee. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

  • Wolf THJ, Schmid-Hempel P, Ellington CP, Stevenson RD (1989) Physiological correlates of foraging efforts in honey-bees: oxygen consumption and nectar load. Funct Ecol 3:417–424

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank John Ruberson for supplying cages, Glenn O. Ware for assistance in experimental design and analysis, and Jennifer Berry for help in the field. The research described herein was conducted in compliance with all applicable laws of the United States of America and State of Georgia.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

    Selim Dedej & Keith S. Delaplane

Authors
  1. Selim Dedej
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Keith S. Delaplane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keith S. Delaplane.

Additional information

Communicated by R. Page

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dedej, S., Delaplane, K.S. Net energetic advantage drives honey bees (Apis mellifera L) to nectar larceny in Vaccinium ashei Reade. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 57, 398–403 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0852-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0852-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation