Abstract
ABSTRACT Foraging behaviors of bumble bee workers have been examined in natural habitats, whereas agricultural landscapes, which can provide insights on flight distances to fragmented patches of bloom, have received limited attention. In particular, information on worker flight distances to crops blooming several months after nests have been established is invaluable. Here, we examined foraging patterns of Bombus vosnesenskii Radoszkowski in late-season blooming clover in the agriculturaldominated Willamette Valley in Oregon. Workers from 10 fields collected over 2 yr were assigned to full sibling families (colonies) by using eight microsatellite loci. With estimation of numbers of unseen species, we inferred the presence of 189 colonies from 433 bees genotyped in year 1, and 144 from 296 genotyped the next year. Worker foraging distance was estimated to be at least 11.6 km, half the distance between the most remote fields visited by the same colonies. Numbers of nests contributing workers to each field r...
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
