POLLEN FORAGING PREFERENCES OF STINGLESS BEES IN AN URBAN GARDEN

Abstract

Integral pollinators in tropical rainforests, stingless bees face increasingly urbanised landscapes in deforested regions across insular Southeast Asia. Their ability to adapt to urban environments is partly dependent on the availability of adequate sources of food. It was thought that highly eusocial bees, such as stingless bees and honey bees, were similar to primitively eusocial bumble bees and foraged preferentially for higher quality pollen. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that honey bees do not assess pollen quality when foraging or provisioning brood. In addition, super-generalist stingless bee pollen foraging preferences in Southeast Asia remain unknown beyond floral choices. An understanding of stingless bee pollen foraging preferences can facilitate their conservation in Southeast Asia through informing on the increased planting of preferred pollen resources. Stingless bees in this study had a pollen foraging preference for pollen quantity, in terms of pollen availability and pollen collection efficiency, but not pollen protein and lipid quality. Flexible foraging on a wide variety of flower types that flower regularly, and have shallow flowers with abundant, easily accessible pollen potentiates stingless bees to forage effectively even in high-disturbance environments.