Bumblebees tend to favor certain flowers for gathering pollen, selecting those that offer the richest rewards rather than simply visiting the most abundant blooms. This insight comes from studies conducted at Ohio State University.
Among the planet’s most vital pollinators, bumblebees play a crucial role in both ecosystems and agriculture. They are robust insects capable of long flights away from their nests, yet ecologists warn of a growing global pollinator crisis that makes understanding their behavior more important than ever for conservation and food production.
In a detailed examination, Karen Goodell and colleagues tracked feeding preferences by watching more than 20,000 individual bees in Ohio. The favored blossoms included milkweed, several native thistle species, morning glory, purple coneflower, monarda, penstemon, red clover, and pea plants. Within Ohio’s 16 wasp species observed, researchers focused on 10 that appeared frequently enough to analyze, with eight being most abundant. The data set highlighted a large number of interactions involving Bombus pensillvanicus, recorded in 11,555 instances. Over a total of 477 hours of observed activity, bees interacted with 96 different wildflower species. This broad sampling provides a solid view of how pollinators choose among available flowers in natural settings while foraging. (Source: Ohio State University)
The results reveal a clear pattern: a disproportionate use of certain flowers in pollination activity. Clover and echinacea, for instance, were largely overlooked by the insects, while several non-native plant species drew significant pollinator attention. This raises questions about how pollinators contribute to native plant conservation and how shifts in floral resources might influence ecosystem balance. In general, the frequency of pollen collection paired with flower preference appears driven by the bees’ innate choices rather than simply by which flowers are most common in the environment. Moreover, preferred flowers varied across species, and the sets of favored blooms did not always overlap. (Source: Ohio State University)
In closing, researchers note that past paleontological discussions about ancient ecosystems are eclipsed by contemporary observations of living pollinators. The findings underscore the importance of protecting diverse floral habitats to sustain pollinator populations and the essential services they provide to native biodiversity and agriculture alike. (Source: Ohio State University)