Local Honeybees' Foraging Habits and Choices

The Penn Vet New Bolton Center, located in Pennsylvania, is conducting a groundbreaking study aimed at understanding honeybee foraging patterns and preferences. Laurel Redding, an associate professor of epidemiology, is leading this research, which received a $14,800 grant from the Carl H. Goldsmith Sustainable Agriculture Fund of Penn's Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

The study involves performing pollen metabarcoding, a technique used to identify floral components in pollen and honey. This will help researchers understand what honeybees are consuming and their foraging sources. Kaitlyn Krebs, the New Bolton Center's hive manager and adjunct assistant professor of honeybee medicine at Penn Vet, is responsible for collecting pollen and honey samples.

The waggle dance, a figure-eight-shaped dance performed by successful foragers to convey food source locations to other bees, is a key focus of the study. Foragers, all female worker bees, perform this dance to indicate the direction and distance of the food source. However, the implementation of in-hive video cameras to capture the waggle dance has proven to be a challenge due to the bees covering cameras with propolis, a resinous substance.

In addition to Cynthia Skema, a botanical scientist with Penn's Morris Arboretum & Gardens, is conducting a walking survey to catalogue plant life within a half-mile of the New Bolton Center hives. The preliminary findings suggest that bumblebees in the region prefer native wildflowers, with plants such as goldenrod, coneflowers, and milkweed identified as key species supporting their populations.

This study is significant not only for understanding honeybees better but also for helping keep them healthy. Honeybees are crucial for our food supply, as they are responsible for a vast share of commercial pollination for crops like almonds, blueberries, apples, squash, and avocados. The study aims to establish a foundation for future research into honeybees' health, which has grown to encompass a broader definition of care for these important creatures.

The study at the Penn Vet New Bolton Center is part of the center's commitment to sustainability initiatives. The center has been taking steps to understand honeybees better to help protect them from factors like pesticides, loss of food, parasites, disease, and climate change, which have led to massive, unexplained honeybee deaths this year across the United States.

The study is also intended to help students learn about honeybee medicine, a relatively new discipline. Honeybee hives were brought to the New Bolton Center last year to facilitate this learning. As the study progresses, monthly sampling and analysis of pollen and honey will continue, providing valuable insights into the world of honeybees and their crucial role in our ecosystem.