Xylose as a nectar sugar: The response of cape honeybees, Apis mellifera capensis Eschschoitz (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

African Entomology

Volumn 6, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 317-323

  Allsopp, M H ^a   Nicolson, S W ^b   Jackson, S ^b,c  

^a PLANT PROTECTION RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (South Africa)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN   (South Africa)

^c UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND MEDICAL SCHOOL   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Honeybees; Nectar; Sugar preferences; Xylose

Indexed keywords

ANIMALIA; APIDAE; APIS MELLIFERA; APOIDEA; FAUREA; HYMENOPTERA; PROTEA; PROTEACEAE;

EID: 0032439603     PISSN: 10213589     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (24)

1. ANDERSON, R.H., BUYS, B. & JOHANNSMEIER, M.F. 1983. Beekeeping in South Africa. Bulletin 394, Department of Agricultural Technical Services, Pretoria.
2. BACHMAN, W.W. & WALLER, G.D. 1977. Honeybee responses to sugar solutions of different compositions. Journal of Apicultural Research 16: 165-169.
3. BARKER, R.J. & LEHNER, Y. 1974. Acceptance and sustenance value of naturally occurring sugars fed to newly emerged adult workers of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Journal of Experimental Zoology 187: 277-286.
4. BARKER, R.J. & LEHNER, Y. 1975. Influence of diet on sugars found by thin-layer chromatography in thoraces of honey bees, Apis mellifera L. Journal of Experimental Zoology 188: 157-164.
5. FRAENKEL, G. 1940. Utilization and digestion of carbohydrates by the adult blowfly. Journal of Experimental Biology 17: 18-29.
6. FRANKE, E., JACKSON, S. & NICOLSON, S. 1998. Nectar sugar preferences and absorption in a generalist African frugivore, the Cape white-eye Zosterops pallidus. Ibis 140: 501-506.
7. HASSETT, C.C. 1948. The utilization of sugars and other substances by Drosophila. Biological Bulletin 95: 114-123.
8. HEPBURN, H.R. & RADLOFF, S.E. 1995. First approximation to a phenology of the honeybees (Apis mellifera) and flora of Africa. Oecologia 101: 265-273.
9. ITO, T. 1960. Nutritive values of carbohydrates for the silkworm, Bombyx mori. Nature 187: 527.
10. HOLM, E. & MARAIS, E. 1992. Fruit Chafers of Southern Africa. Ekogilde, Hartebeespoort, South Africa.
11. JACKSON, S., NICOLSON, S.W. & LOTZ, C.N. 1998a. Sugar preferences and "side bias" in Cape sugarbirds and lesser double-collared sunbirds. Auk 115: 156-165.
12. JACKSON, S., NICOLSON, S.W. & VAN WYK, B.-E. 1998b. Apparent absorption efficiencies of nectar sugars in the Cape sugarbird, with a comparison of methods. Physiological Zoology 71: 106-115.
13. KEARNS, C.A. & INOUYE, D.W. 1993. Techniques for Pollination Biologists. University Press of Colorado, Niwot, Colorado.
14. KNOWLES, G. 1976. The action of the excretory apparatus of Calliphora vomitoria in handling injected sugar solution. Journal of Experimental Biology 64: 131-140.
15. LOTZ, C.N. & NICOLSON, S.W. 1996. Sugar preferences of a nectarivorous passerine bird, the lesser double-collared sunbird (Nectarinia chalybea). Functional Ecology 10: 360-365.
16. NICOLSON, S.W. 1998. The importance of osmosis in nectar secretion and its consumption by insects. American Zoologist 38: 418-425.
17. NICOLSON, S.W. & VAN WYK, B.-E. In Press. Nectar sugars in Proteaceae: patterns and processes. Australian Journal of Botany.
18. SIMPSON, B.B. & NEFF, J.L. 1983. Evolution and diversity of floral rewards. In: Jones, C.E. & Little, R.J. (Eds) Handbook of Experimental Pollination Biology. 142-159. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
19. TURUNEN, S. & CRAILSHEIM, K. 1996. Lipid and sugar absorption. In: Lehane, M.J. & Billingsley, P. (Eds) The Biology of the Insect Midgut. 293-320. Chapman & Hall, London.
20. VAN WYK, B.-E. & NICOLSON, S.W. 1995. Xylose is a major nectar sugar in Protea and Faurea. South African Journal of Science 91: 151-153.
21. VOGEL, B. 1931. Über die Beziehungen zwischen Süssgeschmack und Nährwert von Zuckern und Zuckeralkoholen bei der Honigbiene. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Physiologie 14: 273-347.
22. WALLER, G.D. 1972. Evaluating responses of honeybees to sugar solutions using an artificial-flower feeder. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 65: 857-862.
23. WELLS, H., HILL, P.S. & WELLS, P.H. 1992. Nectarivore foraging ecology: rewards differing in sugar types. Ecological Entomology 17: 280-288.
24. WYKES, G.R. 1952. The preferences of honeybees for solutions of various sugars which occur in nectar. Journal of Experimental Biology 29: 511-519.