Temporal Consistency in Foraging Time and Bouts of a Carpenter Bee in a Specialized Pollination System

While site and plant fidelity are reported for bees, consistency in foraging pattern is less studied in field conditions. We monitored three marked carpenter bees – one female and two males – on the sword bean for 25 straight days of flowering to examine whether (1) the bee is consistent on the time of its first visit and the number of foraging bouts and (2) the number of flowers on the plant predicts foraging bouts of the bees. The female bee was consistent on the first arrival time and the number of visitation bouts, but the male bees were not. The median first arrival time of the female bee was 06:22 h. Number of visitation bouts of female bee was unaffected by the crop size. The duration the bees spent on the plant on subsequent visits increased with the duration they spent on the first visit. This study suggests that the carpenter bee, in particular the female, has a consistent visitation pattern to the flowers