scholarly journals Wildflower plantings promote blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), reproduction in California almond orchards

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 3189-3199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie K. Boyle ◽  
Derek R. Artz ◽  
Ola Lundin ◽  
Kimiora Ward ◽  
Devon Picklum ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamutahl Cohen ◽  
Quinn S. McFrederick ◽  
Stacy M. Philpott

2008 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisol Amaya-Márquez ◽  
Peggy S. M. Hill ◽  
John F. Barthell ◽  
L. Lisa Pham ◽  
Dale R. Doty ◽  
...  

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie K. Boyle ◽  
Theresa L. Pitts-Singer

Osmia lignaria is a commercially available, native solitary bee species recognized for its propensity to forage upon and pollinate tree fruit crops such as apple, almond and cherry. This study evaluated the implementation of O. lignaria co-pollination with honey bees in central Utah commercial tart cherry orchards during 2017 and 2018 bloom. Three paired 1.2 ha sites were selected for evaluation of cherry fruit set and yield with and without managed O. lignaria releases alongside the standard honey bee hive stocking rate of 2.5 hives/ha. Osmia lignaria supplementation did not measurably increase cherry fruit set, fruit per limb cross-sectional area or fruit weight. The lack of differences in yield is likely a consequence of local saturation of pollinator services supplied by managed honey bees throughout experimental orchards, such that no additive benefit of managed O. lignaria releases were measurable. An increase in managed O. lignaria populations was achieved in 2017 but not 2018, possibly due to unknown changes to orchard management or environmental factors. While flying O. lignaria in Utah tart cherries may support sustainable in-field bee propagation, their subsequent impacts on tart cherry yield were not detected when paired with standard stocking densities of honey bees.


2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1935) ◽  
pp. 20201390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Stuligross ◽  
Neal M. Williams

Bees and other beneficial insects experience multiple stressors within agricultural landscapes that act together to impact their health and diminish their ability to deliver the ecosystem services on which human food supplies depend. Disentangling the effects of coupled stressors is a primary challenge for understanding how to promote their populations and ensure robust pollination and other ecosystem services. We used a crossed design to quantify the individual and combined effects of food resource limitation and pesticide exposure on the survival, nesting, and reproduction of the blue orchard bee Osmia lignaria . Nesting females in large flight cages accessed wildflowers at high or low densities, treated with or without the common insecticide, imidacloprid. Pesticides and resource limitation acted additively to dramatically reduce reproduction in free-flying bees. Our results emphasize the importance of considering multiple drivers to inform population persistence, management, and risk assessment for the long-term sustainability of food production and natural ecosystems.


1986 ◽  
pp. 101-101
Author(s):  
J.L. Anderson ◽  
E.A. Richardson ◽  
P.F. Torchio

EDIS ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alden Estep ◽  
Catherine Zettel-Nalen ◽  
James Ellis

The blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria Say (Fig. 1), is a solitary mason bee native to the west coast of the United States and Canada. It is of great interest for use as a native pollinator of fruit trees and blueberries, and is easily managed due to its favorable biological characteristics. Blue orchard bees can be purchased online for pollination, and they are shipped as pupae ready to emerge in the spring. This 4-page fact sheet was written by Alden Estep, Catherine Zettel-Nalen, and James Ellis, and published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, March 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in982


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abby E. Davis ◽  
Kaitlin R. Deutsch ◽  
Alondra M. Torres ◽  
Mesly J. Mata Loya ◽  
Lauren V. Cody ◽  
...  

AbstractFlowers can be transmission platforms for parasites that impact bee health, yet bees share floral resources with other pollinator taxa, such as flies, that may be hosts or non-host vectors (i.e., mechanical vectors) of parasites. Here, we assessed whether the fecal-orally transmitted gut parasite of bees, Crithidia bombi, can infect Eristalis tenax flower flies. We also investigated the potential for two confirmed solitary bee hosts of C. bombi, Osmia lignaria and Megachile rotundata, as well as two flower fly species, Eristalis arbustorum and E. tenax, to transmit the parasite at flowers. We found that C. bombi did not replicate (i.e., cause an active infection) in E. tenax flies. However, 93% of inoculated flies defecated live C. bombi in their first fecal event, and all contaminated fecal events contained C. bombi at concentrations sufficient to infect bumble bees. Flies and bees defecated inside the corolla (flower) more frequently than other plant locations, and flies defecated at volumes comparable to or greater than bees. Our results demonstrate that Eristalis flower flies are not hosts of C. bombi, but they may be mechanical vectors of this parasite at flowers. Thus, flower flies may amplify or dilute C. bombi in bee communities, though current theoretical work suggests that unless present in large populations, the effects of mechanical vectors will be smaller than hosts.


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