Abstract
Bees foraging for nectar should choose different inflorescences from those foraging for both pollen and nectar, if inflorescences consist of differing proportions of male and female flowers, particularly if the sex phases of the flowers differ in nectar content as well as the occurrence of pollen. This study tested this prediction using worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) foraging on inflorescences of Lavandula stoechas. Female flowers contained about twice the volume of nectar of male flowers. As one would predict, bees foraging for nectar only chose inflorescences with disproportionately more female flowers: time spent on the inflorescence was correlated with the number of female flowers, but not with the number of male flowers. Inflorescence size was inversely correlated with the number of female flowers, and could be used as a morphological cue by these bees. Also as predicted, workers foraging for both pollen and nectar chose inflorescences with relatively greater numbers of both male and female flowers: time spent on these inflorescences was correlated with the number of male flowers, but not with the number of females flowers. A morphological cue inversely associated with such inflorescences is the size of the bract display. Choice of flowers within inflorescences was also influenced predictably, but preferences appeared to be based upon corolla size rather than directly on sex phase.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Barrow DA, Pickard RS (1984) Size-related selection of food plants by bumblebees. Ecol Entomol 9: 369–373
Bell G (1985) On the function of flowers. Proc R Soc Lond B 224: 223–265
Bell G, Lefebvre L, Giraldeau L-A, Weary D (1984) Partial preference of insects for the male flowers of an annual herb. Oecologia 64: 287–294
Blackith RE, Reyment RA, Campbell NC (1979) Multivariate morphometrics, 2nd edn. Academic Press, London
Búrquez A, Corbet SA (1991) Do flowers reabsorb nectar? Funct Ecol 5: 369–379
Cameron DL (1981) Chemical signals in bumble bee foraging. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 9: 257–260
Corbet SA, Kerslake CJC, Brown D, Morland NE (1984) Can bees select nectar-rich flowers in p patch? J Apic Res 23: 234–242
Cresswell JE (1990) How and why do nectar-foraging bumblebees initiate movements between inflorescences of wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa (Lamiaceae)? Oecologia 82: 450–460
Delph LF, Lively CM (1989) The evolution of floral colour change: pollinator attraction versus physiological constraints in Fuchsia excorticata. Evolution 43: 1252–1262
Devesa JA, Arroyo J, Herrera J (1985) Contribucion al conocimiento de la biologia floral del genero Lavandula L. Anal Jardin Bot Madrid, 42: 165–186
Duffield GE, Gibson RC, Gilhooly PM, Hesse AJ, Inkley CR, Gilbert FS, Barnard CJ (1993) Choice of flowers by foraging honey bees (Apis mellifera): possible morphological cues. Ecol Entomol 18: 191–197
Eckhart VM (1991) The effects of floral display on pollinator visitation vary among populations of Phacelia linearis (Hydrophyllaceae). Evol Ecol 5: 370–384
Eckhart VM (1992) Spatio-temporal variation in abundance and variation in foraging behavior of the pollinators of gynodioecious Phacelia linearis (Hydrophyllaceae). Oikos 64: 573–586
Galen C, Newport MEA (1987) Bumble bee behavior and selection on flower size in the sky pilot, Polemonium viscosum. Oecologia 74: 20–23
Galen C, Plowright RW (1985) Contrasting movement patterns of nectar-collecting and pollen-collecting bumblebees (Bombus terricola) on fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) inflorescences. Ecol Entomol 10: 9–17
Geber MA (1985) The relationship of plant size to self-pollination in Mertensia ciliata. Ecology 66: 762–771
Giurfa M, Nuñez JA (1992) Hotteybees mark with scent and reject recently visited flowers. Oecologia 89: 123–117
Giurfa M, Nuñez JA (1993) Efficient floret inspection by honeybees in capitula of Carduus acanthoides. Ecol Entomol 18: 116–122
Greggers U, Menzel R (1993) Memory dynamics and foraging strategies of honeybees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 32: 17–29
Harder LD (1988) Choice of individual flowers by bumblebees: interaction of morphology, time and energy. Behaviour 104: 60–77
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
Herrera J (1991) Allocation of reproductive resources within and among inflorescences of Lavandula stoechas (Lamiaceae). Am J Bot 78: 789–794
Klinkhamer PGL, de Jong TJ, de Bruyn GJ (1989) Plant size and pollinator visitation in Cynoglossum officinate. Oikos 54: 201–204
Klinkhamer PGL, Jong TJ de (1990) Effects of plant size, plant density and sex differential nectar reward on pollinator visitation in the protandrous Echium vulgare (Boraginaceae). Oikos 57: 399–405
Klinkhamer PGL, Jong TJ de (1993) Attractiveness to pollinators: a plant's dilemma. Oikos 66: 180–183
Manly BFJ (1986) Multivariate statistical analysis: a primer. Chapman and Hall, London
Marden JH (1984a) Remote perception of floral nectar by bumble-bees. Oecologia 64: 232–240
Marden JH (1984b) Intrapopulation variation in nectar secretion in Impatiens capensis. Oecologia 63: 418–422
Meddis R (1984) Statistics using ranks. Blackwell, Oxford
Mitchell RJ (1994) Effects of floral traits, pollinator visitation, and plant size on Ipomopsis aggregata fruit production. Am Nat 143: 870–889
Muñoz A, Devesa JA (1987) Contribucion al conocimiento de la biologia floral del genero Lavandula L. II. Lavandula stoechas L. subsp. stoechas. Anal Jardin Bot Madrid, 44: 63–78
Ohara M, Higashi S (1994) Effects of inflorescence size on visits from pollinators and seed set of Corydalis ambigua (Papaveraceae). Oecologia 98: 25–30
Primack RB, Kang H (1989) Measuring fitness and natural selection in wild plant populations. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 20: 367–396
Real L (1992) Information processing and the evolutionary ecology of cognitive architecture. Am Nat 140 (Suppl) 108–145
Reyment RA (1971) Multivariate normality in morphometric analysis. Math Geol 3: 357–368
Schmitt U, Bertsch A (1990) Do foraging bumblebees seent-mark food sources and does it matter? Oecologia 82: 137–144
Seeley TD (1985) Honeybee ecology: a study of adaptation in social life. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Thomson JD (1988) Effects of variation in inflorescence size and floral rewards on the visitation rates on traplining pollinators of Aralia hispida. Evol Ecol 2: 65–76
Thomson JD, Maddison WP, Plowright RC (1982) Behavior of bumple bee pollinators of Aralia hispida (Araliaceae). Oecologia 54: 326–336
Willson MF, Agren J (1990) Differential food rewards and pollination by deceit in unisexual flowers. Oikos 55: 23–29
Zimmerman M (1982) The effect of nectar production on neigh-borhood size. Oecologia 52: 104–108
Zimmerman M, Pyke GH (1986) Reproduction in Polemonium: patterns and implications of floral nectar production and standing crop. Am J Bot 73: 1405–1415
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gonzalez, A., Rowe, C.L., Weeks, P.J. et al. Flower choice by honey bees (Apis mellifera L.): sex-phase of flowers and preferences among nectar and pollen foragers. Oecologia 101, 258–264 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317292
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317292