Foraging behaviour and pollination contribution of naturally occurring bumble bees in red clover

Pollinators optimise their foraging behaviours in response to changes in floral rewards, which may consequently affect pollen transfer and plant reproductive success, especially in plants that require cross-pollination. In a red clover field grown for seed production, we conducted a three-year experiment to compare the foraging behaviours of naturally occurring bumble bee species and their pollination contributions. Specifically, we investigated how the visitation of a flower head by one bumble bee may affect the foraging behaviours of any second visiting bee. We also measured relative abundance, stigmatic pollen deposition, and plant traits including flowering intensity, corolla tube length, and seed set. We found that bees can identify previously visited flower heads: the second visiting bees increased their rejection probabilities with the flower exploitation rate of the first visiting bees. The second bees also had a higher foraging speed than the first visiting bees, either due to ..., , , # Data from: Foraging behaviour and pollination contribution of naturally occurring bumble bees in red clover

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.05qfttf63](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.05qfttf63)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset includes the supporting data of a three-year evaluation of pollinator performance described in the manuscript ‘Foraging behaviour and pollination contribution of naturally occurring bumble bees in red clover’ published as a research paper in *Basic and Applied Ecology*.

Under field conditions, we conducted an experimental assessment of foraging behaviour by interviewing bees in sequence and explored the interactions between the foraging bees. For the pollination behaviour, we measured the pollination indices of relative abundance, foraging behaviour, rejection behaviour, flower exploitation rate and stigmatic pollen deposition. For the floral-related traits, we measured the corolla tube length of red clover, scored flowering intensity,..., ,