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Sci Rep

Title:		Learning of a mimic odor combined with nectar nonsugar compounds enhances honeybee pollination of a commercial crop
Author(s):		Estravis-Barcala MC; Palottini F; Farina WM;
Address:		"Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biologia Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Instituto de Fisiologia, Biologia Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biologia Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina. walter@fbmc.fcen.uba.ar. Instituto de Fisiologia, Biologia Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. walter@fbmc.fcen.uba.ar"
Journal Title:		Sci Rep
Year:		2021
Volume:		20211214
Issue:		1
Page Number:		23918 -
DOI:		10.1038/s41598-021-03305-9
ISSN/ISBN:		2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking)
Abstract:		"The increasing demand on pollination services leads food industry to consider new strategies for management of pollinators to improve their efficiency in agroecosystems. Recently, it was demonstrated that feeding beehives food scented with an odorant mixture mimicking the floral scent of a crop (sunflower mimic, SM) enhanced foraging activity and improved recruitment to the target inflorescences, which led to higher density of bees on the crop and significantly increased yields. Besides, the oral administration of nonsugar compounds (NSC) naturally found in nectars (caffeine and arginine) improved short and long-term olfactory memory retention in conditioned bees under laboratory conditions. To test the effect of offering of SM-scented food supplemented with NSC on honeybees pollinating sunflower for hybrid seed production, in a commercial plantation we fed colonies SM-scented food (control), and SM-scented food supplemented with either caffeine, arginine, or a mixture of both, in field realistic concentrations. Their foraging activity was assessed at the hive and on the crop up to 90 h after treatment, and sunflower yield was estimated prior to harvest. Our field results show that SM + Mix-treated colonies exhibited the highest incoming rates and densities on the crop. Additionally, overall seed mass was significantly higher by 20% on inflorescences close to these colonies than control colonies. Such results suggest that combined NSC potentiate olfactory learning of a mimic floral odor inside the hive, promoting faster colony-level foraging responses and increasing crop production"
Keywords:		Animals Bees/*physiology *Crop Production *Feeding Behavior Helianthus/*growth & development *Odorants *Plant Nectar Pollination;
Notes:		"MedlineEstravis-Barcala, M Cecilia Palottini, Florencia Farina, Walter M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2021/12/16 Sci Rep. 2021 Dec 14; 11(1):23918. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03305-9"