Conditioning Honeybees Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) to a Synthetic Floral Scent for Improving Foraging Towards Apple ( Malus domestica ) Trees

P.C. DIAZ; A. ARENAS; W.M. FARINA

Encuentro; 1st Latin American Meeting of Chemical Ecology; 2010

Most of the floral cues experienced by honeybees at the field can be transferred and learned via social interactions among several nest mates inside the hive. Associative olfactory memories established within the colony can affect preferences of foragers for floral scents even several days after acquisition and can guide foraging to specific food sources [1]. This is relevant within agriculture settings since honeybees are excellent crop pollinators. With the aim to promote honeybee foraging to apple (Malus domestica) trees, a typical insect-pollinated crop, we developed a synthetic mixture (SM) formed by a few volatile compounds of its floral odor that accounted for a great proportion of the headspace extract [2]. In a laboratory experiment, honeybees generalized SM with the natural odor of apple flowers during classical conditioning assays of proboscis extension. In the field, SM-treated colonies (fed with SM-scented sucrose solution) showed higher levels of activity than the untreated ones (fed with unscented sucrose solution) during the apple blooming period. Th is occurred even though the offering of the SM was performed four days before starting the apple flowering. Present results suggest that specific memories of synthetic mixture established within the treated hives could bias foraging preferences towards apple crops, opening the possibility to improve the hive management during the pollination service of this crop.