Science - USA (2022-03-04)

science.org SCIENCE

PHOTO: CYRIL RUOSO/MINDEN PICTURES

970 4 MARCH 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6584

By Dave Goulson and Elizabeth Nicholls

B

ees are highly specialized insects,

feeding almost exclusively on nec-

tar and pollen from flowers, and in

so doing contributing substantially

to the pollination of wild plants and

crops. Flying to and from patches of

flowers is energetically costly, particularly

for relatively large bees such as honey bees

and bumble bees that live on a knife-edge

in terms of balancing their energy intake.

Suboptimal foraging conditions can result

in a net loss of energy over the course of

a foraging trip. Bees have evolved numer-

ous adaptations to efficiently locate and ex-

tract floral resources, including impressive

learning, navigational, and communication

abilities. These are key to their survival and

successful reproduction, because the num-

ber of offspring that can be provisioned is

determined by the food surplus adult bees

can gather. However, these foraging adap-

tations can be affected by anthropogenic

factors, but there are opportunities to mini-

mize negative effects.

The arrival of the Anthropocene has

brought with it considerable challenges for

wild bees. In particular, the spread of indus-

trial agriculture has profoundly altered the

landscape across large portions of the globe,

often reducing the availability and diversity

of floral resources. The most widely grown

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Anthropogenic influences on bee foraging

PERSPECTIVES

Efficient foraging is vital to bee fitness but is challenging in the Anthropocene

INSIGHTS

School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

Email: [email protected]