Book ChapterDOI
Pollen nutritional content and digestibility for animals
T'ai H. Roulston,James H. Cane +1 more
TLDR
Study on the mechanism(s) of pollen digestion remain inconclusive, but suggest that differences in digestibility among pollen types may reflect differences in pollen wall porosity, thickness, and composition.Abstract:
This paper reviews the literature concerning digestion and nutrient content of pollen. Four topics are addressed in detail: 1) The mechanism of pollen digestion by animals; 2) The efficiency of mechanical and digestive removal of pollen content by various animals; 3) Range and taxonomic distribution of pollen nutrients, and 4) Adaptive hypotheses proposed to associate pollen chemistry with pollinator reward. Studies on the mechanism(s) of pollen digestion remain inconclusive, but suggest that differences in digestibility among pollen types may reflect differences in pollen wall porosity, thickness, and composition. Although hummingbirds reportedly digest pollen very poorly, most animals studied, including those that do not regularly consume pollen, can digest 50–100% of ingested grains. Overlooked and recent research of pollen protein content shows that pollen grains may contain over 60% protein, double the amount cited in some studies of pollen-feeding animals. Adaptive hypotheses that associate pollen starch and pollen caloric content with pollinator reward remain unsubstantiated when critically viewed through the lens of phylogeny.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Nutrition and health in honey bees
TL;DR: The potential of different diets to meet nutritional requirements or to improve survival or brood production is outlined, and nutrition-related risks to honey bee colonies such as starvation, monocultures, genetically modified crops and pesticides in pollen and nectar are discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
A century of advances in bumblebee domestication and the economic and environmental aspects of its commercialization for pollination
TL;DR: L'acceptation rapide des bourdons et leur vaste introduction en tant que pollinisateurs peut s'expliquer par les avantages economiques par rapport aux techniques plus anciennes, souvent artificielles are presente l'evolution dans l'expansion mondiale.
Journal ArticleDOI
Functional diversity within the simple gut microbiota of the honey bee
TL;DR: The sequenced metagenome of the gut microbiota of honey bees reveals insights into mutualistic functions governed by the microbiota of this important pollinator and indicates that the honey bee can serve as a model for understanding more complex gut-associated microbial communities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Linking bees and flowers: how do floral communities structure pollinator communities?
TL;DR: It is concluded that floral resources act in specific and previously unexplored ways to modulate the diversity of the local geographic species pool, with specific disturbance factors, superimposed upon these patterns, mainly affecting the dominant species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Influence of pollen nutrition on honey bee health: do pollen quality and diversity matter?
Garance Di Pasquale,Marion Salignon,Yves Le Conte,Luc P. Belzunces,Axel Decourtye,André Kretzschmar,Séverine Suchail,Jean Luc Brunet,Cédric Alaux +8 more
TL;DR: The results support the idea that both the quality and diversity (in a specific context of pollen can shape bee physiology and might help to better understand the influence of agriculture and land-use intensification on bee nutrition and health.
References
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Book
The Biology of the Honey Bee
TL;DR: This book describes the life cycle of a honey bee, focusing on the courtship and mating activities of Worker Bees and their role in the evolution of monogamy.
Book
Insect-Plant Interactions
TL;DR: Volume 5 of "Insect-Plant Interactions" is a volume in a series that presents research in the field and presents the first available review on physicochemical conditions of the gut lumen from an ecological perspective.
Book
Pollen: biology, biochemistry, management
Robert Stanley,H. F. Linskens +1 more
TL;DR: This chapter discusses the management of Pollen, its collection and uses, and the role and distribution in Nature and human consumption.