title: The effect of feeder location on pollen collection by bumble bees in a tomato greenhouse in Ontario, Canada.
abstract: The foraging behavior of bumble bees (Bombus impatiens Cresson) was examined as a function of feeder location containing sugar solution in a commercial tomato greenhouse in Manotick, Ontario, Canada. The feeders were located within the nest-box (fed-close) or placed 1.5 m away (fed-far) and the placement of the two types of colonies was counterbalanced over time. No effect of feeder location was found in colony activity levels or in pollen load size. A foraging trade-off between sugar solution and pollen collection, however, was found: the proportion of foraging trips in which pollen was brought back was significantly reduced for fed-far colonies, which contrasts with our laboratory study in which the opposite effect was found. We interpret our findings as possibly reflecting a limitation in pollen supply in the greenhouse: an already possibly strained ability to find and bring back pollen to the colony was accentuated by increasing the task demands of collecting sugar solution.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5. lorban@uottawa.ca
authors.forename: Levente L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Orbán
authors.forename: C M S
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Plowright
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Plowright
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D002241:Carbohydrates; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D011058:Pollen; D054817:Pollination
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates