Meeting Abstract
Turkey is home to a great diversity of bees, yet little is known about the biology of the vast majority of species, including their foraging preferences and stratification within environments. I examined height, color, and habitat preferences of a coastal community of bees by constructing stratified pan trap stakes to collect foraging bees. Fluorescent blue, yellow, and white pan traps were placed at three different heights (5cm, 87.5cm, and 175cm) in four unique habitats (forested, edge, agricultural field, and managed/urban) from July 5th to 12th, 2016 in Çanakkale. More bees were collected at the two higher heights than at ground level and yellow traps captured more individuals than other colors. Traps in the field habitat collected more bees than traps in the edge, forest, and urban habitats. The distribution of bees collected from traps of various heights, colors, and habitats suggests a vertical stratification as well as habitat preference within the community of bees sampled.
