Honey bee hives decrease wild bee abundance, species richness, and fruit count on farms regardless of wildflower strips

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dc.contributor.authorAngelella, Gina M.en
dc.contributor.authorMcCullough, Christopher T.en
dc.contributor.authorO'Rourke, Megan E.en
dc.contributor.departmentSchool of Plant and Environmental Sciencesen
dc.contributor.departmentEntomologyen
dc.date.accessioned2021-05-21T15:00:53Zen
dc.date.available2021-05-21T15:00:53Zen
dc.date.issued2021-02-05en
dc.description.abstractPollinator refuges such as wildflower strips are planted on farms with the goals of mitigating wild pollinator declines and promoting crop pollination services. It is unclear, however, whether or how these goals are impacted by managed honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) hives on farms. We examined how wildflower strips and honey bee hives and/or their interaction influence wild bee communities and the fruit count of two pollinator-dependent crops across 21 farms in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. Although wild bee species richness increased with bloom density within wildflower strips, populations did not differ significantly between farms with and without them whereas fruit counts in both crops increased on farms with wildflower strips during one of 2 years. By contrast, wild bee abundance decreased by 48%, species richness by 20%, and strawberry fruit count by 18% across all farm with honey bee hives regardless of wildflower strip presence, and winter squash fruit count was consistently lower on farms with wildflower strips with hives as well. This work demonstrates that honey bee hives could detrimentally affect fruit count and wild bee populations on farms, and that benefits conferred by wildflower strips might not offset these negative impacts. Keeping honey bee hives on farms with wildflower strips could reduce conservation and pollination services.en
dc.description.notesWe would like to thank the collaborating farms. Bob Glennon and Velva Groover helped establish wildflower strips; Roy Flanagan, Jane Lassiter, and Michael Sigrist helped locate collaborating farms; Jayesh Samtani provided strawberry plants; Erica Head, Monique Ayers, Sarah Head, and Courtney Floyd assisted with field work; and Sam Droege provided bee species determinations. Lisa Horth and Heather Grab provided insightful comments on the manuscript. Funds were provided by a NIFA Agroecosystem Management award to M. O'Rourke number 2015-67019-23215. The United States Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity provider and employer. The use of trade names or commercial products in this publication is to provide information for the and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the USDA. We have no conflicts of interest to report.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNIFA Agroecosystem Management award [2015-67019-23215]en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81967-1en
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322en
dc.identifier.issue1en
dc.identifier.other3202en
dc.identifier.pmid33547371en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/103428en
dc.identifier.volume11en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.titleHoney bee hives decrease wild bee abundance, species richness, and fruit count on farms regardless of wildflower stripsen
dc.title.serialScientific Reportsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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