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B.C. researchers use math to predict bee behaviour

UBCO researcher: "The novelty is in treating the colony as a collective entity, not tracking individual bees."

Can mathematics help farmers attract bees?

Researchers at UBC Okanagan think so, and they have published a study that suggests timing, quantity, and diversity could be the key to success.

They applied the principles of dynamic energy budget theory to model how a colony of bumblebees react to environmental conditions.

Developed by doctoral student Pau Capera-Aragonès alongside Rebecca Tyson and Eric Foxall of UBC Okanagan’s Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, the model simulates the full energy budget of a bumblebee colony and how bees forage across a changing landscape.

“You take all those bits of information that the biologists have and then you can put that in an equation that says, well, we know that bees move approximately like this, and they move this fast, and they go this far, and they respond to these spatial cues in the certain way. And you put in your equation, and then you can predict forward,” said Tyson.

“The novelty is in treating the colony as a collective entity, not tracking individual bees," said Foxall. By modelling how the whole system allocates energy to survive, grow and reproduce, we can test how different environmental conditions influence long-term colony health."

The model highlights some critical design principles for supporting bee populations and, therefore, the pollination of crops.

The study found bees will stick around longer if there is a variety of blossoms and flowers, but not too many, and if those flowers have the right mix of nectar and protein.

“It’s best if the wildflower and crop flower blooms don’t overlap too much, so there’s less competition,” said Tyson. “You also really need that early wildflower bloom. So if you can plant types that do that.

“And then the nutritional content, that's an interesting piece. Bees gather two types of resources from flowers — nectar and pollen.”

She explained that while nectar is the same from flower to flower, pollen can vary significantly.

“Pollen is protein. They need that for the babies, for the brood, and it’s made of nine amino acids. And some pollen is more nutritious than other pollen.”

The research focused on blueberry blossoms, but the theory could likely be applied to other agricultural crops.

Even among wildflowers, quality varies. Dandelions, for example, are relatively low in protein.

“That’s why we recommend planting a variety of wildflowers,” said Tyson. “Preferably native species, because local bees are adapted to them. As long as you’re planting for diversity, the patch will benefit pollinators.”

The findings were recently published in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology.

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