Native Bee Utilization of Sorghum and Community Richness in Western Kansas Agricultural System

Abstract

Agricultural practices have significant and often negative effects on native bee populations. It is imperative that we understand how current agricultural practices affect native bees. Grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is cultivated heavily in western Kansas and is grown in rotation with winter wheat. Recent research suggests bees visit sorghum for pollen and honeydew produced by aphids. This study aims to confirm whether native bees utilize sorghum pollen in western Kansas. Additionally, we will examine the effect of sorghum, wheat, and cover crops on the community structure of native bees in agroecosystem in western Kansas. We hypothesize that native bees utilize sorghum pollen. We also expect that native bee richness will increase in agroecosystems with cover crops present. We also expect that native bee richness will increase adjacent to sorghum fields due to the availability of late season forage relative to those adjacent to winter wheat fields.