Abstract
Declines in wild and managed bee species richness and abundances have been observed throughout Europe and North America in recent decades. These declines have led to questions regarding pollination of wild and cultivated plants. In response to these concerns, efforts towards the conservation of pollinators have been initiated. Part of this conservation effort should be to provide the basic nutritional needs for bees. Nutrition plays one of the most important roles in bee growth, development, and reproduction. There is a large body of information regarding honey bee nutrition, whereas we lack nutritional information on native wild bees. Our knowledge of bumble bee nutritional needs has increased since the introduction of commercial rearing and sale of certain bumble bee species; however, there is still a lack of basic nutritional guidelines such as minimum dietary needs of proteins, amino acids, lipids, and sterols. The large difference in physiology and life history between honey bees and North American wild bees suggests that their nutritional requirements could be quite different.
Highlights
Pollination is mostly an example of a mutually beneficial relationship between plants and animals
International Journal of Ecology recently accomplished for honey bees [20, 21], so they will not be covered in our review, on topics that lack information on native wild bees, studies on honey bees will be offered as a possible corollary for wild bees
Regarding native wild bee nutrition, we know that bees require pollen and nectar as a source for proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, vitamins, and many other compounds
Summary
Pollination is mostly an example of a mutually beneficial relationship between plants and animals. Bees pollinate a large percentage of flowering plants, providing pollination services to approximately 90% of wild plant species and 75% of global food crops, which constitute 35% of world crop production [1, 2]. Both managed and wild bees are ecologically, culturally, and economically important organisms, but in recent decades some bee species have had population declines and, in extreme cases, extirpation [3,4,5,6]. International Journal of Ecology recently accomplished for honey bees [20, 21], so they will not be covered in our review, on topics that lack information on native wild bees, studies on honey bees will be offered as a possible corollary for wild bees
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