IMAGE: Honey bees fed a diet of sunflower pollen show dramatically lower rates of infection by a specific pathogen.
Sunflower pollen is low in protein and some amino acids, so it should not be considered as a standalone meal for bee populations, Irwin said. “But sunflower could be a good addition to a diverse wildflower population for bees,” she said, especially generalists like bumble bees and honey bees.
“We don’t know if sunflower pollen is helping the host bees fight off pathogens or if sunflower pollen does something to the pathogens,” Irwin said. Future research is aimed at figuring this out.
Co-lead author Lynn S. Adler, Jessica Leslie and Evan C. Palmer-Young from the University of Massachusetts Amherst co-authored the paper, as did NC State’s David Tarpy. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (grants USDA-AFRI 2013-02536 and USDA/CSREES MAS000411), the National Science Foundation (grants NSF-DEB-1258096/1638866, REU supplement NSF DEB-1415507), the N.C. Agricultural Foundation, and NC State.
September 26, 2018 in Environmental.