Certain plants attract bees more than others do, but whether those flowers contain optimal nutrition has yet to be determined. The grant will allow researchers in the Honey Bee Lab led by Ramesh Sagili, OSU associate professor of apiculture and OSU Extension specialist, and Priyadarshini Chakrabarti, former OSU research assistant and new assistant professor at Mississippi State University, to begin to fill that knowledge gap.

With the $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, the team hopes to improve bee nutrition by building a database of macro- and micro-nutrients found in flowering plants used in the study. Poor nutrition due to agricultural mono-cropping and loss of habitat is an important factor in bee declines, and researchers anticipate alleviating the problem by providing better forage choices for bees.

In addition to beekeepers, land managers and conservation groups should benefit from the database. The public also will be able to use the information to choose the most nutritious plants for both native and managed bees.

With global decline in bee populations, and given the importance of honeybees for commercial pollination of hundreds of crops, choosing the best supplemental forage can help mitigate poor nutrition. Well-nourished bees can also better withstand things that plague them, such as Varroa mites, pesticides, parasites and loss of habitat.

“If you look at it from the human side, the healthier you are, the better you can fight off diseases, parasites and other health issues,” Sagili said. “With a better immune system, you’re stronger and more resilient. It’s the same with bees. Nutrition is their first line of defense against stressors.”

Optimal nutrition has been shown to enhance resistance to stressors, and increase survival and longevity, according to Chakrabarti. Even though much research has been done to determine the causes of honeybee decline, few studies have addressed the underlying problems of bee nutrition.

For the past few years there has been a significant movement to improve nutrition and increase habitat for bees and to provide better forage, Chakrabarti said. For farmers, it’s important to understand the nutrition contained in pollens from significant crops such as almonds in California, a $7 billion industry that relies on honeybees for pollination.

“There are efforts geared toward farmers so that they can plant supplemental forage adjacent to their orchards or fields to provide the additional nutritional resources that bees need,” Sagili said. “Seventy-five percent of honey bee hives managed by beekeepers in the United States go to California’s Central Valley in February to pollinate the almonds, and they need forage before the almonds come into bloom.

“That’s a big, big problem,” he said. “There might be some wild mustard or dandelion, but it’s really meager and there is no other source of pollen for bees.”

Beekeepers feed the honey bees sugar syrup and protein supplements when natural forage is unavailable. This is not the optimal diet for them, but can sustain bees for the short term.

Sagili and Chakrabarti are seeking community scientists to help with the study. Those interested in participating can contact Sagili at 541-737-5460 or ramesh.sagili@oregonstate.edu; or Priya Chakrabarti at priyadarshini.chakrabarti@oregonstate.edu.