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P-IE

10-Minute Paper

10-min: P-IE, Pollinators and Pollination

The impact of crop prophylactic bactericides on bee microbiome, foraging behavior, and pollination

On-Demand
On-Demand
   The broadcast use of antibiotics in USA orchards has exponentially increased in the last decade. However, there is minimal information about the consequences of these field applications on non-target beneficial insects. This is concerning as bactericides could eliminate bacterial symbionts that play vital roles in insect health and behavior. The application of bactericides is particularly relevant for pollinators of crops that receive antibiotics during bloom time, as changes in foraging behavior can lead to declines in pollination.



    We tested bactericides' impact on bee microbiome, foraging, and crop pollination in a pilot project in North Georgia, USA. We placed sentinel colonies of commercially-sourced bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) in three plot treatments: flowering apple (Malus domestica) tree rows sprayed with copper, tree rows sprayed with antibiotics, and both. We fitted bees from these colonies with RFID tags and tracked sucrose and water consumption inside a computer-controlled foraging arena in the lab. We compared this data against trials from previous experiments with colonies reared in the lab. We sampled foragers from these colonies before & after bactericides applications and will sequence their gut microbiome to quantify changes in community composition. We tagged apple flowers and are assessing pollen deposition on floral stigmas, apple fruit quality, and seed production. While we continue to collect and analyze data, preliminary findings indicate that flowers that received antibiotics produced fruits with a similar number of seeds to those sprayed with copper.