Data from: Honeybee nutrition is linked to landscape composition

Declines in insect pollinators in Europe have been linked to changes in
land use. Pollinator nutrition is dependent on floral resources (i.e.,
nectar and pollen), which are linked to landscape composition. Here, we
present a stratified analysis of the nutritional composition of beebread
in managed honeybee hives with a view to examining potential sources of
variation in its nutritional composition. Specifically, we tested the
hypothesis that beebread composition correlates with local land use and
therefore available floral resources. The results demonstrated that the
starch, lipid, and moisture contents of beebread are all highly conserved
across hives, whereas levels of protein and nonreducing sugar increased as
the year progressed, reducing sugars, however, decreased during the first
half of the year and then increased toward the end. Local land use around
hives was quantified using data from the Countryside Survey 2007 Land
Cover Map. Bee-bread protein content was negatively correlated with
increasing levels of arable and horticultural farmland surrounding hives
and positively correlated with the cover of natural grasslands and
broadleaf woodlands. Reducing sugar content was also positively correlated
with the amount of broad-leaved woodland in a 3 Km² radius from the hives.
Previous studies on a range of invertebrates, including honeybees,
indicate that dietary protein intake may have a major impact on correlates
of fitness, including longevity and immune function. The finding that
beebread protein content correlates with land use suggests that landscape
composition may impact on insect pollinator well-being and provides a link
between landscape and the nutritional ecology of socially foraging insects
in a way not previously considered.