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Insights into commercial bumblebee foraging dynamics
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology.
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology.
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology.
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology.
(English)Manuscript (preprint) (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) are essential pollinators in both natural and agricultural ecosystems, contributing significantly to crop yield and quality. Commercial bumblebee colonies are widely deployed in greenhouse and open-field systems to enhance pollination efficiency. However, their foraging activity and overall effectiveness are heavily influenced by environmental factors, particularly temperature. These factors regulate bumblebee flight activity, energy expenditure, and foraging efficiency, with suboptimal conditions potentially reducing pollination success. Furthermore, differences in colony rearing practices, genetic stock, and maintenance protocols between breeders may result in variability in resilience and foraging performance under changing environmental conditions. This study investigates the relationship between environmental temperature and the foraging activity of commercial bumblebee colonies from the two primary commercial breeders in Europe – Biobest and Koppert. Specifically, we aim to quantify foraging activity across environmental gradients, identify optimal and suboptimal foraging conditions, and compare breeder-specific colony performance. We found breeder-specific differences in how temperature affects bumblebee foraging. In Biobest colonies, higher temperatures increased departure rates, trip duration, and pollen collection. Moreover, departure rates increased in Koppert colonies, whereas trip duration and probability of pollen collection remained unchanged. Our findings aim to inform agricultural practices and commercial breeding programs, offering actionable insights for optimizing bumblebee pollination services in variable climatic conditions. This research contributes to understanding how environmental factors interact with breeder-specific colony traits, supporting the development of resilient pollination systems in the face of climate change and providing guidance for growers, breeders, and policymakers to enhance sustainable crop production.

Keywords [en]
temperature, insect-plant interacRons, foraging behavior, climate change
National Category
Natural Sciences Ecology Biological Sciences
Research subject
Functional Zoomorphology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-245375OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-245375DiVA, id: diva2:1987670
Available from: 2025-08-07 Created: 2025-08-07 Last updated: 2025-08-07
In thesis
1. Understanding insect pollinator responses to climate change
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Understanding insect pollinator responses to climate change
2025 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Bumblebees (genus Bombus) are key pollinators in many ecosystems, yet their foraging performance and pollination efficiency are highly sensitive to environmental conditions, particularly temperature. As global temperatures undergo rapid changes due to climate change, understanding how thermal variation affects bumblebee behavior, physiology, and biomechanics is crucial for predicting potential disruptions to pollination services. Bumblebees possess a unique ability among insects to generate internal heat and are regarded as cold-adapted specialists. However, this adaptation also makes them highly vulnerable to rising environmental temperatures. Using a combination of laboratory experiments and field observations with commercial bumblebees, this thesis explores the impact of environmental temperature on bumblebee foraging behavior, flight control, vision, and pollination performance. In Chapter I, we examine how temperature impacts commercial bumblebee colonies by surveying foraging activity in a field site using both radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and manual surveys. We measured colony activity (number of departures and arrivals) as well as bumblebee body temperature upon depature and arrival and monitored colony and environmental temperature. Our results showed that while Biobest workers began foraging at cooler temperatures and increased both their foraging duration and pollen collection as environmental temperature rose, Koppert colonies exhibited relatively stable foraging behavior across temperatures, with shorter trips and less temperature-dependent pollen collection. These findings highlight the need to consider breeder-specific traits when choosing colonies for crop pollination in different climates. In Chapter II, we used laboratory experiments to understand how environmental temperature affects bumblebee body temperature and thermoregulation during different behaviors (i.e., during resting, pre-flight, and post-flight). We measured head, thorax, and abdomen temperature. We found that the effect of environmental temperature on bumblebee body temperature differs across behavioral contexts and that bumblebees use a counter-current heat exchanger to thermoregulate during during/ after flight. In Chapter III, we aimed to understand how increasing temperatures and decreasing light availability affect bumblebee visual performance and flight control. We measured visual performance by recording electroretinogram responses of bumblebees at different temperatures and light intensities. Additionally, by recording bumblebees flying during periods of dim and bright light at different temperatures, we assessed components of flight control, including flight speed, straightness, and centering. Photoreceptor SNR peaked at intermediate temperatures, declining at both low and high extremes. We found that bumblebees increase their flight speed as temperature increases, but only in bright light and this is aided by the increase in visual performance. On the contrary, during periods of dim light and lower temperatures, bumblebees fly slower likely caused by decrase in the visual performance. In Chapter IV, we examined how temperature influences the foraging behavior (i.e., number of flowers visited and time spent on each flower) of bumblebees using buzz-pollinated Solanum rostratum plants. We also investigated the vibratory mechanics of buzz pollination—a process in which bees generate rapid thoracic vibrations to extract pollen from flowers with poricidal anthers. We found that bumblebee foraging activity is affected by temperature, with bumblebees decreasing the amount of time spent on each flower and  visiting more flowers per minute. This temperature-induced variation in behavior affected the reproductive outcome of the plants, with fewer fruits and seeds being produced by plants that were pollinated by bees at the higher temperature.  We also found that vibration frequency, amplitude, and pollen release efficiency are significantly affected by temperature. By integrating ecology, behavior, physiology, and biomechanics, this thesis provides novel insights into the thermal sensitivity of bumblebees and their pollination effectiveness. The results emphasize the vulnerability of bumblebee populations and pollination services in a changing climate, underscoring the need for conservation strategies that promote pollinator resilience.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 2025. p. 50
Keywords
climate change, heatwaves, pollination, bees, physiology, behavior
National Category
Zoology
Research subject
Functional Zoomorphology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-244603 (URN)978-91-8107-310-2 (ISBN)978-91-8107-311-9 (ISBN)
Public defence
2025-09-12, Vivi Täckholmsalen (Q-salen), NPQ-huset, Svante Arrhenius väg 20, Stockholm, 09:30 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2025-08-20 Created: 2025-06-23 Last updated: 2025-08-12Bibliographically approved

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