Summary

The funds acquired through this grant will enable the analysis of pollen samples collected from honey bees returning to hives; this will be undertaken using next generation sequencing approaches for metabarcoding, based on two genes. My study will identify key floral resources of one of the most important managed pollinators of Australian crops, the honey bee. Foraging preferences and diets of honey bees will be compared between a commercially available non-native (exotic) wildflower seed mix and an Australian native seed mix that I have developed in collaboration with Greening Australia. Further, I will determine how the availability of native and exotic plant species and associated floral resource-use by honey bees changes throughout the year. This study will address the following questions: (i) What non-crop floral resources are used by economically important honey bees and how does this change throughout the year? (ii) What are the key plant species used outside of the crop flowering season? (iii) Do honey bees preferentially forage for pollen from native versus exotic plant species? I will address my research questions by examining pollen balls collected (with pollen traps) from bees returning to hives, for four hives once a month over a one-year period (more details within the methods below). Costs for pollen metabarcoding ($4,464) are as follows: 4 hives x 12 sampling events = 48 hive samples 48 samples DNA extractions @$15 = $720 48 samples barcoding for ITS gene @$39 = $1,872 48 samples barcoding for rbcl gene @39 = $1,872 I am working with existing honey bee hives, therefore there is no need to purchase and install these, just to analyse samples collected monthly between January – December 2020.
In order to inform growers and raise awareness of the benefits that targeted floral enhancements can provide to honey bee populations and consequently crop pollination, a Grower’s Brochure will be compiled and circulated via Industry contacts (approx. $100 for print and distribution). Furthermore, outcomes from this research will be presented to beekeepers, growers, educators, industry leaders and researchers at the NSW Apiarists’ Association Annual Conference (approx. $100 registration fee, $210 accommodation for 3 nights, $120 travel) and other grower’s meetings if funds can be secured through this grant. In total, the proposed budget to successfully conduct this project and communicate findings is $4,994.

Program

Honey Bee

Research Organisation

Western Sydney University

Objective Summary

The funds acquired through this grant will enable the analysis of pollen samples collected
from honey bees returning to hives; this will be undertaken using next generation
sequencing approaches for metabarcoding, based on two genes.My study will identify key floral resources of one of the most important managed pollinators of Australian crops, the honey bee. Foraging preferences and diets of honey bees will
be compared between a commercially available non-native (exotic) wildflower seed mix
and an Australian native seed mix that I have developed in collaboration with Greening
Australia. Further, I will determine how the availability of native and exotic plant species
and associated floral resource-use by honey bees changes throughout the year. This
study will address the following questions: (i) What non-crop floral resources are used by economically important honey bees and how does this change throughout the year? (ii)
What are the key plant species used outside of the crop flowering season? (iii) Do honey
bees preferentially forage for pollen from native versus exotic plant species? I will address
my research questions by examining pollen balls collected (with pollen traps) from bees
returning to hives, for four hives once a month over a one-year period.