Doctoral Student
BRUCE ECKHOLM
Advisor:
Gloria DeGrandi-HoffmanContact Info:
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
(520) 670-6380
beckholm@ag.arizona.edu
Research and Interests:
My research considers mechanisms by which honey bees acquire nutrition. Honey bees forage for both nectar and pollen. Nectar is the source of carbohydrate which fuels colony activities. However, like all animals, honey bees have nutritional requirements consisting of essential and non-essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, lipids, sterols, etc. These dietary components are almost entirely acquired from pollen. Significant nutritional differences exist between various plant taxa foraged by bees. Therefore, the pollen sources selected by foraging honey bees have a direct impact on colony health and fitness. How bees make their pollen choices and how those choices meet nutritional requirements of the colony are unclear. One possible mechanism for securing nutrition is polyandry (i.e. multiple mating by the queen). For example, patrilines of foraging honey bees may possess variable sensitivities to floral cues which ensure collected pollen types meet dietary needs. Polyandry in honey bees has been shown to confer other colony-level advantages, including hive thermoregulation and disease resistance. I am investigating whether patrilineal bias exists in honey bee foraging behavior, and attempt to correlate foraging differences with nutrition acquisition.
