Biologists and ecologists have been searching for solutions for years to reverse what could become one of the biggest challenges for the future of life on the planet: increased death rate pollinators. Two scientific studies have emerged that provide food for thought about this disturbing fact: Plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae) can be the solutionor at least some of it.
Two studies came to the same conclusion: Sunflower pollen and its ‘relatives’ reduce infection from a common bee parasite between 81% and 94% and significantly increases queen bee production.
The results of the study leave no doubt: the abundance of sunflowers, prevalence a dangerous common intestinal pathogen, Crithidia bombiAnd intensity infections compared to areas with little or no sunflower.
In addition, sunflower abundance was also positively associated. higher queen production in colonies. However, it did not affect the prevalence of other pathogens detected.
“This study demonstrates that a single plant species can drive disease dynamics in foraging. impatient bombs (eastern common wasp) and this lFields of sunflowers can be used as a tool to mitigate a pathogen. It increases the reproduction of a bee species that is common and also important to agriculture,” says one of the reports.
The ‘secret’ was found in exines (the hard outer coating of pollen grains) that reduced infection as effectively as whole sunflower pollen, while pollen metabolites did not.
The ‘key’ is physics, not chemistry
The investigation revealed bees feeding on the pollen of four of the seven other plants in the family asteraceae There were 62% to 92% fewer infections By Crithidia bombai than those fed pollen asteraceae.
“The importance of bees as pollinators is now widely recognized and we are becoming more and more aware of the myriad bees. stressors negatively affect their health,” the authors write. These factors include: habitat loss, pesticide exposure And parasites.
One of the doubts that needed to be clarified was whether the health benefits of the bees were due to the chemical substances or the physical structure of the sunflower.
To shed light on the mystery, the scientists separated the spiny outer layer of the pollen from the chemical metabolites in the core. They then mixed the thorny bark of the sunflower, with its chemistry removed, with pollen fed to one group of bees, while another group was fed the barkless, wildflower pollen sprinkled with sunflower metabolites.
“We discovered that It is the thorny outer layer of sunflower pollen, not its chemistry, that reduces infections.says Laura Figueroa, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and lead author of one of the studies.
“Bees that ate the thorny sunflower pollen pods had the same response as bees fed whole sunflower pollen: They got 87% fewer infections than those fed sunflower metabolites,” Figueroa says. For this reason The ‘key’ is in physics, not chemistry.
They also observed that bees fed pollen of ragweed, dandelion, dandelion and fennel, all from the sunflower family, had lower infection rates similar to those fed sunflowers.
The “apocalypse” of insects
There Another key element in determining the health of a colony is the number of queen bees it produces.. Because the more you produce, the greater the chance of the genes being passed on to the next generations.
The researchers placed bumblebee colonies on twenty farms where they grew varying amounts of sunflower. A few weeks later, they took samples of the pathogens that had accumulated in the bees’ guts, weighed the colonies to determine whether they had developed, and counted the number of queens.
“With increased sunflower abundance, infection decreased, and perhaps more importantly, Queen bee production increased by 30% “For every magnitude increase in sunflower pollen availability,” says Rosemary Malfi, lead author of one of the papers.
The discovery is not trivial, as polarizing insects help pollinate almost everything from blueberries to coffee and contribute to agriculture. more than €200,000 million in annual ecosystem services Worldwide. “We rely on polarizers to have a varied, healthy and nutritious diet,” says Figueroa.
There are still unknowns as to why sunflower pollen benefits queen bee production. “Maybe bumblebees have more energy to reproduce if they’re not fighting disease, or maybe Crithidia bombi “It affects learning and foraging, so reducing infection increases the ability to find food.”
Lynn Adler, lead author of one of the papers, clarifies. these studies are not a solution to the “insect apocalypse” but “encouraging” and shows that the sunflower family can play an important role in maintaining the health of pollinators and ultimately human food systems.
Reference reports:
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1365-2435.14320
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.0055
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