Floral microbes provisioned by Osmia lignaria establish in larval food stores, but do not affect bee development or survival

Abstract

Microbial dispersal and subsequent establishment among linked habitats can be used to examine drivers of community assembly and function. Flowers host microbial communities that can be acquired and vectored by bees to new flowers, establish within the adult bee gut, and enter food stores (e.g., pollen provisions) of developing larvae. Yet, whether microbes vectored by insects or applied for biocontrol can establish across these habitats and if they affect bee fitness remain unknown. Here, we applied microbes to flowers visited by blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) and compared microbial communities in flowers, adult bee guts, and pollen provisions before and after inoculation to determine microbial establishment, environmental filtering, and overlap across habitat types. We also inoculated provisions with microbes to test their effects on larval survival and development. Experimentally inoculated microbes were detected in all habitats, demonstrating that flowers are a source of microbial acquisition for adult and larval bees. Additionally, larval health was not impacted by microbe supplementation, indicating tolerance of bee larvae to floral microbes in Osmia.