How to translate text using browser tools
9 September 2022 Methods Employed in the Determining Nectar and Pollen Sources for Bees: A Review of the Global Scenario
Ujjwal Layek, Nandita Das, Arijit Kundu, Prakash Karmakar
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Flowering plants and pollinators are in a mutualistic association, where pollinators collect floral resources and plants receive pollination services. Bees and other pollinators are declining in many parts of the world, and their loss affects the functional composition of fauna, flora, and habitats. Different strategies are being deployed to improve pollinator services, including the management of bees. Sustainable management of a bee species strongly depends on floral resource availability. Therefore, beekeepers need to have adequate knowledge about the surrounding vegetation (especially nectar and pollen sources for the bee species). Diverse methodologies are used around the world to determine floral resources for bees. Field surveys and pollen analysis of honey, corbicular/scopal pollen loads, residual pollens in brood cells, forager's body surface pollen content, and internal organs (gut, intestine, crop, etc.) were used by the researchers. For pollen identification, most researchers carried out microscopy-based methods. However, pollen DNA-based methods were also used by researchers in recent years. Regarding the morphology-based identification, most researchers processed pollen samples according to Erdtman's acetolysis method to increase the visibility of diagnostic characteristics of the pollen grains. The method specified by the International Commission for Bee Botany was used to conduct qualitative and quantitative pollen analysis on honey samples. For quantitative pollen load analysis, researchers used numerous techniques that may have been the most effective. Our discussion about the different techniques utilized to determine floral resources of a bee species will be helpful for researchers in selecting a suitable protocol and may assist in developing superior methodologies.

Graphical Abstract

img-A0H0_417.jpg
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Ujjwal Layek, Nandita Das, Arijit Kundu, and Prakash Karmakar "Methods Employed in the Determining Nectar and Pollen Sources for Bees: A Review of the Global Scenario," Annals of the Entomological Society of America 115(6), 417-426, (9 September 2022). https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saac013
Received: 13 May 2022; Accepted: 28 June 2022; Published: 9 September 2022
JOURNAL ARTICLE
10 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
bee
DNA metabarcoding
floral resource
melissopalynology
nectar
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top