Data for: Experimental elevated temperature affects bumblebee foraging and flight speed

Global warming threatens wild bees and their interaction with plants.
While earlier studies have highlighted the negative effects of elevated
temperatures on bee-plant interactions, we still lack knowledge about how
they impact the foraging behaviours that are central to bee pollination
activities. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated how ambient
temperature affected the foraging behaviours of the
bumblebee Bombus terrestris. We allowed the bumblebees to forage
freely on artificial flowers in two climate-controlled rooms set at 24°C
and 32°C. The colonies were alternated between the two temperatures every
week. We recorded the flower visitation rate, flight speed, total foraging
time, and number of foraging trips. In addition, we measured flight
metabolic rate across a range of temperatures to assess its potential as
an underlying mechanism. In comparison to 24°C, at 32°C flower visitation
time decreased while flower visitation rate and flight speed increased.
This is consistent with the reduction in flight metabolic rate recorded
between these temperatures. At 32°C, the number of trips made by each
worker decreased, suggesting that, despite the reduced energetic cost,
flight in elevated temperatures may be stressful. Our results suggest that
elevated temperatures affect bumblebee foraging behaviour and that this
would likely disrupt plant-insect interactions.