Author(s) |
Bailey, Charlie P
Sonter, Carolyn A
Jones, Jeremy L
Pandey, Sabu
Haberle, Simon
Santos, Karen C B S
Absy, Maria L
Rader, Romina
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Publication Date |
2023-04
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Abstract |
<p><b>Premise:</b> Pollen collected by honey bees from different plant species often differs in color, and this has been used as a basis for plant identification. The objective of this study was to develop a new, low-cost protocol to sort pollen pellets by color using high-energy violet light and visible light to determine whether pollen pellet color is associated with variations in plant species identity.</p>
<p><b>Methods and Results:</b> We identified 35 distinct colors and found that 52% of pollen subsamples (<i>n</i> = 200) were dominated by a single taxon. Among these near-pure pellets, only one color consistently represented a single pollen taxon (Asteraceae: Cichorioideae). Across the spectrum of colors spanning yellows, oranges, and browns, similarly colored pollen pellets contained pollen from multiple plant families ranging from two to 13 families per color.</p>
<p><b>Conclusions:</b> Sorting pollen pellets illuminated under high-energy violet light lit from four directions within a custom-made light box aided in distinguishing pellet composition, especially in pellets within the same color.</p>
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Citation |
Applications in Plant Sciences, 11(2), p. 1-10
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ISSN |
2168-0450
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Link | |
Publisher |
John Wiley & Sons
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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Title |
Does sorting by color using visible and high‐energy violet light improve classification of taxa in honey bee pollen pellets?
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Type of document |
Journal Article
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Entity Type |
Publication
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Name | Size | format | Description | Link |
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openpublished/DoesSortingByColorBaileySonterJonesPandeySantosRader2023JournalArticle.pdf | 1630.358 KB | application/pdf | View document | |