Honey bees, Apis mellifera, play an important role in many ecosystems, pollinating a wide variety of native, agricultural, and exotic plants. The recent decline in the number of feral and managed honey bee colonies in North America has caused concern about adequate pollination for agricultural crops and natural plant communities. We studied feral honey bees on the Welder Wildlife Refuge in San Patricio County, Texas. Our objective was to examine spatial and temporal patterns of pollen, nectar, and cavity use by the feral colonies. We evaluated changes in the distribution and abundance of the feral colonies over time, examined patterns of pollen collection, and classified different areas of the refuge according to the availability of different resources. The population of feral colonies on the refuge fluctuated dramatically during the past twelve years. The colonies collected 95 different pollen types throughout the year, 16 of which comprised 88 percent of the samples. Different habitat types on the refuge varied in their suitability for feral honey bees depending on the time of year, their spatial location, and their vegetation community.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Apidae Apis mellifera (honey bee)
Keywords: resource use, foraging behavior
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