RFID-tagged amazonian stingless bees confirm that landscape configuration and nest re-establishment time affect homing ability

Abstract

Bee flight capacity determines the area that a colony can exploit, and this knowledge is essential to formulate management and conservation strategies for each species. In this study, we evaluated the flight capacity of Melipona seminigra using radio frequency identification (RFID). Three questions were addressed: Do the RFID tags affect the flight of M. seminigra workers? What is the effect of the landscape on foraging activity? Does the time since the colony was re-established affect the flight range of foragers? Our results indicate that the RFID tag used does not affect the flight ability of M. seminigra. Bees marked with nontoxic paint vs. RFID tags had the same return ratio and return time to the colony of origin. Flight capacity was affected by the landscape, because the return rate to the colonies was higher from the tested vegetated area than from the sterile area. The time elapsed since the bee colony re-establishment also affected the flight range because the return rate increased with time since the colony was relocated in the new site. We estimate that M. seminigra workers make foraging flights of approximately 1000 m from the colony and that the maximum flight range is 5000 m. Colonies of this species take more than 1 or 2 months to be able to fully exploit a landscape.