Estimates of Food Consumption in Bees

Description

The objectives of the contract resulting from this procurement procedure are to develop protocols, conduct experiments and collect data on pollen and sugar/carbohydrates consumption in various categories of bees (honey bee - lot 1, bumble bee, solitary adults – lot 2). Lot 1: Estimates for Honey Bees — to estimate the daily sugar/carbohydrates consumption of honey bee foragers in different environmental setup and to understand how the different environmental factors influence this consumption rate through measuring the flying time (hour/day); — to measure the pollen consumption of honey bee nurses during their entire nursing life (mg/bee/day); — to measure the fresh sugar/carbohydrates and pollen consumption of honey bee larvae during their entire development phase (mg/larvae/developmental period). More precise description of the objectives of lot 1 is available in the tender specifications. Lot 2: Estimates for Non-Apis Bees — to measure the pollen consumption of bumble bee workers and solitary bee adult (i.e. females) during their entire life (mg/bee/day) in field realistic conditions; — to measure the cumulative sugar/carbohydrates and pollen consumption of bee larvae during their entire development (mg/larvae/full larval developmental period). More precise description of the objectives of lot 2 is available in the tender specifications.