Table 1.
Plants visited by honey bee foragers originating from the sentinel colonies at the RRAC experimental apiary (Pinal County, AZ, USA).
Fig 1.
Total number of new stored pollen cells formed daily in six colonies during the 8d frame monitoring period.
The line indicates the average number of new stored pollen cells deposited daily in all colonies over the 8d observation period.
Fig 2.
Proportions of different-aged pollen cells emptied during the last observation interval.
Stored pollen cell “age” refers to the earliest time of pollen deposition in the cell and therefore represents a maximum time since pollen deposition. The emptying of stored pollen cells formed in the last 24h interval (1d-old stored pollen cells) was undetectable and not included in the analysis. In total, 774 stored pollen cells were emptied in the last interval.
Fig 3.
Relative pollen cell emptying rate (RPCER) of different-aged stored pollen cells from colony frames during the last observation interval.
For each pollen-age class, the observed numbers of emptied and unemptied cells was compared against the numbers expected by pollen-age class abundance and overall emptying rate alone. Pollen-age classes sharing the same superscript did not significantly differ in their relative proportions of emptied and unemptied pollen cells as determined by post-hoc pairwise comparisons (chi-square test of independence, Χ2total>9.323, df = 1, p < 0.00238 (Bonferroni-corrected significance level)).
Fig 4.
Young adult worker consumption of different-aged pollens ((a) 1d-old vs. 10d-old, b) 1d-old vs. 5d-old, c) 5d-old vs. 10d-old) presented in a dual choice assay.
* The amount of each stored pollen type consumed by cage workers varied significantly (*** p<0.0001) or did not vary significantly (NS) by a paired t-test (p<0.05). Error bars are S.E.
Fig 5.
Whole body mass (fresh mass without gut contents) of adult workers reared exclusively for 7d on 1d-old, 5d-old, or 10d-old stored pollen.
Treatment means did not vary significantly by a one-way ANOVA. (p<0.05; error bars are S.E.).
Fig 6.
Average stored pollen consumption (fresh mass) of adult workers reared exclusively for 7d on 1d-old, 5d-old, or 10d-old stored pollen.
Treatment means did not vary significantly by a one-way ANOVA. (p<0.05; error bars are S.E.).
Fig 7.
Dried hindgut fecal masses of adult workers reared exclusively for 7d on 1d-old, 5d-old, or 10d-old stored pollen.
Treatment means did not vary significantly by a one-way ANOVA. (p<0.05; error bars are S.E.).
Fig 8.
Total soluble protein contents of HPG from adult workers reared exclusively for 7d on 1d-old, 5d-old, or 10d-old stored pollen.
Treatment means did not vary significantly by a one-way ANOVA. (p<0.05; error bars are S.E.).