Researchers from Ohio State University are using the latest DNA sequencing technology and a supercomputer
To uncover what plants honey bees rely on, researchers from The Ohio State University are using the latest DNA sequencing technology and a supercomputer. They spent months collecting pollen from beehives and have developed a multi-locus metabarcoding approach to identify which plants, and what proportions of each, are present in pollen samples.
A single beehive can collect pollen from dozens of different plant species, and this pollen is useful evidence of the hive’s foraging behavior and nutrition preferences.
“Knowing the degree to which certain plants are being foraged upon allows us to infer things like the potential for pesticide exposure in a given landscape, the preference of certain plant species over others, and the degree to which certain plant species contribute to the honey bee diet,” says graduate student Rodney Richardson. “One of the major interests of our lab is researching honey bee foraging preferences so we can enhance landscapes to sustain robust honey bee populations.”
More information is available here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/bsoa-hda111315.php
