Bees and BVOCs: Characterization of Scents from Flowers and What Bees Leave Behind
Abstract
Insect pollinators, such as bees, are an essential component to their ecosystem and surrounding plant life. Flowers emit odors, also known as biological volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), to attract bees to themselves during pollination. Additionally, when bees visit flowers, they are known to leave “scent marks” to communicate with other hive members which flowers to select or avoid for pollination. While BVOCs have been identified for many flowering species, there has not been extensive work analyzing odors from flowers that are popular with bee pollinators, such as Bidens alba (Spanish Needle). Furthermore, studies have not explored which odors are scent marks from bees. In this work, we characterized the BVOCs of a Spanish Needle, which is considered the third-most common source of nectar for pollinators in Florida, before and after they were visited by bees. BVOCs were extracted from flowers using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) and identified by comparing the mass spectral data of the extracted odors to the NIST mass spectral library. Odors from unvisited and visited flowers were compared to identify the deterrent and attractive “scent marks” left by bees.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Jessica Brown
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-3-2024 12:30 PM
End Date
4-4-2024 1:30 PM
Bees and BVOCs: Characterization of Scents from Flowers and What Bees Leave Behind
Alvin Sherman Library
Insect pollinators, such as bees, are an essential component to their ecosystem and surrounding plant life. Flowers emit odors, also known as biological volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), to attract bees to themselves during pollination. Additionally, when bees visit flowers, they are known to leave “scent marks” to communicate with other hive members which flowers to select or avoid for pollination. While BVOCs have been identified for many flowering species, there has not been extensive work analyzing odors from flowers that are popular with bee pollinators, such as Bidens alba (Spanish Needle). Furthermore, studies have not explored which odors are scent marks from bees. In this work, we characterized the BVOCs of a Spanish Needle, which is considered the third-most common source of nectar for pollinators in Florida, before and after they were visited by bees. BVOCs were extracted from flowers using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) and identified by comparing the mass spectral data of the extracted odors to the NIST mass spectral library. Odors from unvisited and visited flowers were compared to identify the deterrent and attractive “scent marks” left by bees.
