In subtropical Asia, Apis dorsata (giant honeybee) plays an essential role in pollinating a wide variety of crops and wild plants. To study how different agricultural land covers affect the species, Rika Raffiudin and colleagues monitored the foraging activity of the bees as well as the pollen content of the honey from A. dorsata colonies at two sites in Indonesia: Kampar, characterized by its surrounding monoculture farms (growing a single crop), and Kerinci, a forest-agriculture site where multiple crops, including hot peppers and coffee, are grown nearby. The researchers concluded that a lack of crop variety may reduce total pollen collection by A. dorsata.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers' conclusion?
Explanation
Context: Raffiudin et al. studied giant honeybees (A. dorsata) in two Indonesian sites: Kampar (monoculture farms, one crop) and Kerinci (multi-crop forest-agriculture site with peppers, coffee). They concluded that a lack of crop variety may reduce total pollen collection by A. dorsata. The question asks what finding would support this crop-variety-matters conclusion.
Answer: B) Honey samples from Kerinci bee colonies contained significantly higher concentrations of pollen than honey samples from Kampar bee colonies did.
Why? Kerinci has diverse crops; Kampar has monoculture. If Kerinci bees (diverse crops) collected significantly more pollen than Kampar bees (monoculture), this directly shows that crop variety increases pollen collection — supporting the conclusion that lack of variety reduces it.
Traps:
- A) "significantly fewer bees were observed engaging in foraging activities within the monoculture farms at Kampar" → about foraging activity counts, not about total pollen collected (the actual claim)
- C) "pollen in honey samples from Kampar bee colonies was predominantly sourced from a single crop type" → shows Kampar bees ate fewer varieties, consistent with monoculture, but doesn't directly show they collected less total pollen
- D) "in one Kerinci bee colony, a greater proportion of bees returned to their nest with pollen loads" → about one colony's behavior, not about total pollen concentration across sites