Santa Cruz Island Reserve

11 Jul, 03 AM - 14 Jul, 08 AM

Proposed Purpose of Research Project The purpose of this trip is to collect nectar volume levels ( ?nectar flow?) from florets in flower heads covered with mesh bags that exclude pollinators and ?nectar standing crop? data taken from unbagged flower heads to which all nectarivores can gain access) from the invasive weed Centaurea solstitialis (yellow star-thistle). In addition, morphological information (floral tube length and diameter) will be recorded. After collecting this data, artificial composite flowers will be made to simulate yellow-star thistle inflorescence. The floral characteristics that will be measure while on the island will then be manipulated in order to determine optimum conditions for foraging of the non-native honey bee, Apis mellifera L. This information will then be compared to that of data collected from the island of Lesvos, Greece, where both the honey bee and Centaurea solstitialis are native. Research Project Description We would like to continue looking at nectar flow and standing crop levels from the weed yellow star -thistle. Two different transects would be worked simultaneously at different locations. The transects will consist of 20 YST plants. Nectar will be removed from two flower heads on each plant using microcapillary tubes. This process will be repeated every two hours from 7:00 until 19:00. We would also like to measure floret length and diameter of the yellow star-thistle. This will be done by cutting open 3-5 flower heads and measuring the length of the floral tubes across the inflorescence. We will randomly select 10 plants from the flower patch and repeat this procedure at five different locations throughout the island. The flower heads will then be brought back to the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in order to identify any seed head predators that may be found while collecting this data. A voucher specimen of yellow star- thistle will be deposited into the UCO herbarium. Nectar concentration measurements will then be taken by spinning 3 flower heads from 20 different plants, in a centrifuge and pipetting the resulting nectar onto a hand held refractometer.

Visit #15344 @Santa Cruz Island Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 976 | Research

Island Honey Bees

graduate_student - University of Central Oklahoma

Reservation Members(s)

Group of 3 Graduate Student Jul 11 - 14, 2008 (4 days)
Meredith Clement Jul 11 - 14, 2008 (4 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Dorm 4 Jul 11 - 14, 2008
Private Room 4 Jul 11 - 14, 2008