Skip to main content
Article
Diversity of Flower-visiting Bees and their Pollen Loads on a Wildflower Seed Farm in Montana
Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society
  • April M. Pearce, Montana State University - Bozeman
  • K. M. O'Neill, Montana State University - Bozeman
  • Richard S. Miller, Montana State University - Bozeman
  • Sue L. Blodgett, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2012
DOI
10.2317/JKES111202.1
Abstract

During a two-year survey on a wildflower seed farm in southcentral Montana, we collected ∼50 species of bees from 18 genera in sweep samples on cultivated wildflowers and weeds. The two cultivated plant species most intensively sampled attracted different assemblages of bee visitors. Slender white prairie clover (Dalea candida) attracted 27 species, 94% of visitors being Apis mellifera (73%), Lasioglossum spp., Colletes phaceliae, and Bombus spp. Prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera) attracted 20 species, the majority being Halictus rubicundus and three Melissodes species; only 3% of visitors to this plant were A. mellifera, despite the fact that the coneflower field was closer to an apiary than were the prairie clover fields. Other apparently non-random plant-bee associations included A. mellifera onOnobrychis viciaefolia, Bombus spp. on Astragalus cicer, and Halictus ligatus and aMelissodes sp. on Symphyotrichum chilensis. Analysis of pollen loads suggests high flower constancy for A. mellifera, Bombus spp., and many of the native solitary bee species foraging on cultivated plants. The low numbers of honey bees on certain plants suggest that native, non-managed bees of such genera as Bombus, Melissodes, Halictus, and Lasioglossum may be critical for plant species for which honey bees show relatively low preference (especially when highly-preferred species such as D. candida are abundant).

Comments

This article is from Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 85 (2012): 97, doi:10.2317/JKES111202.1. Posted with permission.

Copyright Owner
Kansas Entomological Society
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
April M. Pearce, K. M. O'Neill, Richard S. Miller and Sue L. Blodgett. "Diversity of Flower-visiting Bees and their Pollen Loads on a Wildflower Seed Farm in Montana" Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society Vol. 85 Iss. 2 (2012) p. 97 - 108
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sue_blodgett/6/