The Importance of Native Pollinators in Canada

Dr. Cory S. Sheffield York University are Vegetarian Wasps Adaptations for Collection

Abdominal scopa Under abdomen

Scopa on hind legs

Corbicula or “pollen basket”

From Michener et al., 1994; Michener, 2000 Plumose Hairs

From Barth, 1991 Bees and Plants Areas with high plant diversity support diverse communities

Monoculture crops can promote bee abundance but generally support lower diversity Plants Provide

Nectar Pollen Floral Oils

Nest materials & sites Shelter The Importance of Bees Sable Island

• Located about 300 km off the coast of Nova Scotia, at 44°N 60°W • Approximately 50 km long and 3 km wide • “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” Famous Sable Island Inhabitants

Sable Island Plants

• More than 175 plant species presently on the island, about 40 are introductions • Many of the islands plant species require for pollination • Several require bee visitors for “buzz” pollination Sable Island Cranberries “The island gave us lots of berries - cranberries, strawberries, blueberries. Every October we all turned out for the cranberry picking, even the lifesaving crew. One year we picked 400 barrels of No. 1 cranberries and I made 48 quarts of jelly. I wished I had never seen a cranberry....the Government sold them for $5 a barrel. The money helped pay to run the lifesaving station” Trixie Boutillier Resident of Sable Island from 1885 to 1912 Sable Island Cranberries

• What cost $5 in 1890 would cost ca $114* in 2007 ($45,600/year)

*The Inflation Calculator http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ Bees of Sable Island

• Megachile melanophaea • Osmia simillima • Lasioglossum novascotiae • *Lasioglossum new sp. Many of our crops require cross pollination by bees Pollination Need for Pollinators

• Bees are the most important group of pollinators • Apis mellifera is the most widely used and important pollinator of our crops

Value of Honey Bees

“Through their pollination of crop plants, honey bees are the third most valuable domestic animal in Europe”

Jürgen Tautz 2008 “The Buzz About Bees” Worth More than Chickens?

Honey Bees and CCD

“If (honey) bee deaths should reach 80 to 90 percent worldwide...the Earth’s carrying capacity for humans could be reduced, essentially overnight, from a maximum of twelve billion to about six billion”

Charles Pellegrino 2007 (As quoted in Schutt 2008 “Dark Banquet”) Dependant on Honey Bees

• We have been placing all our eggs in one basket • 20-25 thousand species of bees • 800-1000 in Canada In addition to honey bees...

BIOL 2P05 - Lecture 13 26 ...we should look at our native bees Bees of Canada

• Melittidae • • Apidae • Andrenidae • Halictidae • Colletidae Melittidae

Macropis Melitta (?) Melittidae

• Our species are oil- bees (genus Macropis) • Dependant on floral oils from plants of the genus Lysimachia Megachilidae

Anthidiellum Heriades Anthidium Hoplitis Ashmeadiella Megachile Atoposmia Osmia Chelostoma Protosmia Coelioxys Stelis Dianthidium Megachilidae

• One of the most important groups of bees from a crop pollination perspective • Many are manageable Apidae

Anthophora Holcopasites Apis Melecta Bombus Melissodes Ceratina Neolarra Diadasia Nomada Doeringiella Peponapis Epeoloides Svastra Epeolus Xeromelecta Eucera Xylocopa Habropoda Zacosmia Apidae

• Includes bumble bees • Several species have recently been catching attention due to their increasing rarity Andrenidae

Andrena Calliopsis Panurginus Perdita *Protandrena Andrenidae

• Very important pollinators of many spring crops including apple and blueberry • Many are floral specialist

Halictidae

Agapostemon Augochlora Augochlorella Augochloropsis Dieunomia Dufourea Halictus Lasioglossum Nomia Sphecodes Halictidae

• Many species • Very difficult taxonomically • All levels of sociality Colletidae

Colletes Hylaeus Colletidae

• Cellophane bees • Line nests with “cellophane-like” secretion to store wet pollen provisions Bees in Canada

Province/ No. of Territory Species NS NB PE 65 NF 55 QC ON MB 170 SK 161 AB BC NU 8 NT YT Bees in Canada

Province/ No. of Territory Species NS NB PE 65 NF 55 QC ON MB 170 SK 161 AB BC NU 8 NT 80 YT 52 Bees in Canada

Province/ No. of Territory Species NS 206 NB 147 PE 65 NF 55 QC 243 ON 379 MB 170 SK 161 AB BC NU 8 NT 80 YT 52 Bees in Canada

Province/ No. of Territory Species NS 206 NB 147 PE 65 NF 55 QC 243 ON 379 MB 170 SK 161 AB 286 BC 352 NU 8 NT 80 YT 52 What do Bees Need?

• Nesting Sites • Nesting Materials • Food Plants

• What can we do to promote native bees as pollinators? Ground-nesting bees

• Most species of bees • Usually in bare patches in well drained soils Ground-nesting bees

Depth and complexity varies

Soil preferences

Up to several 100 tunnels per m2

From Batra 1984

Megachile – leafcutter bees Nest entrance Cavity Nesters - Osmia

From Michener 2000 Cavity Nesters - Osmia

From Michener 2000 Cavity Nesters - Excavator

Ceratina calcarata Nesting Sites

Cavity nesting species nest in natural cavities

Many will nest in trap- nests, and can be encouraged to nest in many habitats Trap Nest Survey

4,449 specimens 18 species Trap Nest Results

Wild habitats had fewer species (10) than the orchard systems (12-15 species)

Low species compositional similarity (<0.5) among sites within habitats

Sheffield et al. 2008. Can. Ent. 140: 235-249 Similarity Cluster Analysis

13.36

42.24

71.12

100.00 A2 B5 C6 A1 D7 B4 D3 C4 A3 A4 C1 D6 A5 D4 B1 B3 D1 C3

Patterns of clustering not related to habitat type

Sheffield et al. 2008. Can. Ent. 140: 235-249 Expectations not Observed

Sites within each Habitat type did not group together

Habitat type not indicative of trap- nesting bee fauna Trap Nest Results

2000 2001 2002 S E 1100 E 1000 B 900 F O 800

700 R E 600 B 500 M U 400 N 300

200

100

0 COMM-A COMM-B ABAND WILD

HABITAT Sheffield et al. 2008. Can. Ent. 140: 235-249 Trap Nest Results Nesting sites are the limiting factor for species richness and abundance

Trap nests encourage bees in orchard systems Sheffield et al. 2008. Can. Ent. 140: 235-249 Management and Encouragement of non-Apis Bee Pollinators

Most success with non-Apis bees has been with cavity- nesting species (Megachilidae)

Osmia (spring crops) Megachile (summer crops) Very inexpensive - and reusable A problem with solitary bees…

Apple bloom last 1-2 weeks

Osmia lignaria lives 4-6 weeks

How do you sustain and build populations for pollination in subsequent years? Lupines consistently bloom following apple Nesting Activity Number of Capped Tunnels

Sheffield et al. 2008 Can. Ent. 140: 589-599 True Recovery s Released Recovered % Recovery e e 2000 300 d B 1800 270 e

2002 r f 1600 240 e o v 1400 210 o r 1200 180 c e e b 1000 150 R m

u 800 120 % N 600 90

400 60

200 30

0 0 Wood Nest "MC" Nest A "MC" Nest B Sheffield et al. 2008 Can. Ent. 140: 589-599 Commercial Orchards Use of Lupines

200

180 F1,32=12.51, P= 0.001 ) g 160 ( 140 E St 120 h g+ 100 i e 80 W 60

40

20

0 Near Lupines From Lupines Sheffield et al. 2008 Can. Ent. 140: 589-599 Use of Lupines

350 s e F =17.41, P < 0.001 e 300 1,32 B E fS 250

+o

r 200 e

b 150 m u

N 100

50

0 Near Lupines From Lupines Sheffield et al. 2008 Can. Ent. 140: 589-599 Apple and Lupine

Both are used for pollen

They bloom in sequence

Promotes increased bee productivity

Sheffield et al. Can. Ent. (submitted) Cavity Nesting Bees Nesting sites are the limiting factor for species richness and abundance

Trap nests encourage bees in orchard systems Sheffield et al. 2008. Can. Ent. 140: 235-249 Another problem… To winter bees for pollination, climate controlled cabinets are recommended

Most growers do not own cold storage facilities

Can bees be safely wintered outside? Experiments with Osmia Bees

Three factors

– Location of origin – Wintering site

– Sex (ns; data pooled)

Sheffield et al. 2008. JESO 139: 3-18 Winter Survival

Sheffield et al. 2008. JESO 139: 3-18 Supercooling

Sheffield et al. 2008. JESO 139: 3-18 Emergence and Flowering

NS

UT

Sheffield et al. 2008. JESO 139: 3-18 Success! Wintering bees outside in sheltered conditions is a viable alternative to expensive controlled chambers

Emergence coincides favourably with apple flowering Summer Bees for Spring Crops?

Megachile rotundata used for alfalfa pollination

A summer flowering crop Summer Bees for Spring Crops?

M. rotundata now used for lowbush blueberry pollination

What is the risk?

Sheffield 2008. JKES 81: 276-287 Summer Bees for Spring Crops?

20 20 Debert Farmington 10 10

0 0

-10 -10

-20 -20

-30 -30

-40 -40 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 20 20 Springhill Great Village 10 10 Temperature (°C)

0 0

-10 -10

-20 -20

-30 -30

-40 -40 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Julian Date Sheffield 2008. JKES 81: 276-287 Typical Summer Bees

Sheffield 2008. JKES 81: 276-287 Cold Induced Mortality

100 Aa Aa Bb Fed

) Supercooling 80 Unfed SEM + ( 60 Fed Bees: = -7.9°C ± 0.5°C 40 Ba Percent Survival 20 Unfed Bees: Ca Ca = -16.1°C ± 0.6°C 0 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 Temperature Treatment (°C) Sheffield 2008. JKES 81: 276-287 Summer Bees for Spring Crops?

Potential Risk

Further studies on climatic responses are needed Bees as Pollinators

• 100 million year relationship with plants • These relationships have shaped terrestrial ecosystems as we now know them Everyone can and should appreciate bees!!! The End