Honeybees have been considered generalists when selecting flowering plants, in other words, they can use a wide range of different plants.
Honeybees have been considered generalists when selecting flowering plants, in other words, they can use a wide range of different plants. However, recent research has showed that honeybees are quite selective.
"Honeybees choose certain plants as their food resources, and these choices differ among time points and, within a time point, even among bee colonies within the same apiary. As an example, at a time point, a colony would collect nectar and pollen mainly from different plants", describes Helena Wirta, a researcher from the faculty of Forestry and Agriculture at the University of Helsinki.
"Based on our results, honeybees are more selective than assumed, using only a fraction of available plants. Thus, to fulfil its nutritional needs, it is likely to need a wide selection of plants from which to select suitable ones", continues Wirta.
Read more at: University of Helsinki
Based on the DNA of the honey and pollen samples used in the study, bees would use raspberries especially in mid- and late summer for nectar, while early in summer they would collect both nectar and pollen from blueberry and cow parsley. (Image: Helena Wirta)
