Can bees meet their nutritional needs in the UK?

A new project is studying the nutrition of bees in the UK in a BBSRC initiative that aims to understand the decline of pollinators in Britain.

18 Oct 2011

  •  
  • Close Thanks for liking this page. Tell us why by adding a comment at the bottom.
Eucera bee on mustard

Eucera bee feeding on mustard flower (Image: G. Wright, Newcastle University)

Kew is a partner on a new BBSRC funded Insect Pollinators Initiative project. This initiative aims to understand the reasons for the decline in pollinator species in Britain.

The project, with Newcastle University, University of Sydney, University of Pretoria and the Hebrew University, Israel, asks whether bees can meet their nutritional needs in the UK. The current UK landscape is dominated by a few large scale, short-lived crops, which provide less diversity in food sources for pollinators than in the past. The research will determine the optimum nutrition for honeybees and bumblebees, and whether temperature, disease, toxins, or stress change the bees’ nutritional needs.

The project will also determine how nutrition influences bee foraging behaviour and whether nutritional deficits or plant toxins influence bee communication within the colony. The work will build an online pollen and nectar nutrient database that will help to predict nutritional shortfalls when they occur and advise stakeholders about the best plant species to cultivate.

The nutritional information on pollen and nectar will be used to develop an optimal bee food supplement.

Item from Dr Phil Stevenson (Natural Product Chemist, RBG Kew/NRI)
Originally published in Kew Scientist, issue 39

More on this story

Wellcome News Feature – bees and ecology

Kew Science Project - Plant-insect interactions

Help Kew break new ground and inspire new generations

By making a donation to Kew today you can help our scientists to find out more about the fascinating world of plants, break new ground and inspire generations of young people to get to know plants better.

Our scientific programmes are focused on understanding plants and conserving the world's plant life and habitats at risk. Plants are essential to life on earth. In a world where the sustainability of the planet’s rich biodiversity is becoming less certain, Kew’s science work is ever more critical. Find out how your donation can make a difference.

Give now and support Kew’s vital plant science work

Browse Kew news

No comments on 'Can bees meet their nutritional needs in the UK?'

Follow Kew

Keep up to date with events and news from Kew

Sign up to Kew News

Related Tags

  1. the UK
  2. interesting
  3. landscapes
  4. amazing
  5. beautiful
  6. english garden
  7. around the world
  8. adventurous
  9. irreplaceable
  10. ground breaking
  11. discovered
  12. challenging
  13. common
  14. flowering
  15. wild
  16. newly discovered
  17. new
  18. at risk
  19. endangered
  20. rainforest
  21. uncharted
  22. needs help
  23. together
  24. rich
  25. innovative
  26. powerful
  27. for kids
  28. inspiring
  29. medicinal
  30. weed
  31. edible
  32. tasty
  33. creative
  34. imaginative
  35. extraordinary
  36. ornamental
  37. exotic
  38. fun
  39. popular
  40. english heritage
  41. historical
  42. romantic
  43. rare
  44. valuable
  45. ancient
  46. of use
  47. massive
  48. scarce
  49. rare
  50. exploited
  51. fragile
  52. urgent
  53. useful
  54. active
  55. unusual
  56. collectable
  57. high
  58. old
  59. ancient
  60. Kew overseas
  61. donate
  62. for family
  63. gifts that help
  64. money saving
  65. popular
  66. remember
  67. save
  68. royal
  69. give money
  70. in urgent need
  71. sponsor
  72. Kew at home
  73. collections
  74. surveying
  75. wet tropics
  76. systematics
  77. chemistry
  78. diversity
  79. verge of extinction
  80. big
  81. useful plants
  82. mysterious
  83. give time
  84. Africa
  85. conserving
  86. fieldwork
  87. events
  88. treasures
  89. partnerships
  90. successes
  91. pretty
  92. fragrant
  93. dangerous
  94. high up
  95. wet
  96. essential
  97. drylands
  98. spiky
  99. brand new
  100. hot
  101. friends & family
  102. dry
  103. hot spot
  104. garden plants
  105. woodland
  106. business
  107. South East Asia

Kew on twitter

Sourced from @KewGardens

News from the Gardens

RSS Feed for the blog Arboretum team blog

Visiting botanic gardens in the southern hemisphere

by: Anthony Hall, Arboretum team blog
22 May 2012
With the weather being so unseasonably cold in the UK recently, I thought I'd share with you some botanical warmth down under with the highlights of botanic gardens in Sydney, Perth and Singapore.

Kew News Alert

All Kew News

See your favourite reasons to visit