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| A Osmia bee collects pollen from a sunflower |
The propensity of bees to forage locally in
small patches results in very limited pollen travel and often small genetic
neighbour-hoods for their floral hosts. Nevertheless,
distant pollen flow is rare but regularly detected, seemingly at odds with
bees’ localized foraging patterns.
In
this study, we experimentally evaluate a nesting bee’s carryover of pollen
acquired during her preceding foraging trip and its contribution to host seed
set. We used the bee Osmia californica foraging at
sunflowers. 