I can only guess from our studies of S supply on pollen development and bee behavior: yes, I would hypothesize that they are N and P limited. But I am pretty sure that there is no substantial research done on this subject (the papers on S you find in our literature portfolio). There is quite a need for investigations of nutrient fluxes along this exciting food chain!

Thank you for your answer!

You can expect a study on this subject. I am working on this.

an interesting question. I assume you address limitation of the larvae which are fed (mostly?) by pollen (not the workers which arent growing and ingest only C-rich honey/nectar). Once you find data on C:N:P of pollen, remember that you can estimate the limiting factor only once you consider (a) assimilation efficiency (not all what is ingested is eventuallyassimilated) and (b) the yield for the respective element - which is very different esp when comparing  C vs N and P (as >= 50% of the assimilated C is respired for energy gain). You find literature on these issues searching for 'threshold elemental ratio'. good luck, curious on your findings ;-)

btw, when you guess that bees(larvae) should be N or P limited, as other herbivores are - remember that bees provide services to plants, pollen is part of an 'agreement' stemming from co-evolution between bees and plants. This is not the case for typical herbivores which damage their hosts.... (pollen from wind-pollinating plants is generally of poorer quality for bees compared to pollen from strictly bee-pollinated plants, for obvious reasons)

[in case you wonder about the interest of an aquatic ecologist into the matter, I am a beekeeper for many years]

There is at least some evidence that high P has a repellent effect on bee foragers:

• Afik O, Dag A, Kerem Z, Shafir S (2006a) Analyses of avocado (Persea americana) nectar properties and their perception by honey bees (Apis mellifera). J Chem Ecol 32:1949–1963
• Afik, O., Delaplane, K. S., Shafir, S., Moo-Valle, H., & Quezada-Euán, J. J. G. (2014). Nectar minerals as regulators of flower visitation in stingless bees and nectar hoarding wasps. Journal of chemical ecology, 40(5), 476-483.

However, much of the 'puddling' literature supposes that bees are collecting P (and Na) while puddling, so it is perhaps variable by species/location. I haven't seen too much literature in this area--I'll be interested to see what you find!

Thank you for your answers, Melissa and Robert.

Hi,

One needs also to remember that metamorphosis in insects requires a lot of C. Egg production by bee queens may also have its own requirements in terms of elements. So the question might be better laid in a stage-specific way!

Thank you for your answer, Mehdi. According to my knowledge carbon may be limiting in case of predatory arthropods (because of its scarcity). Pollen still (as a plant matter) is rich in carbon compounds (approx. 50% of C). What's more, majority of sugars in pollen (approx. 80%) are fructose and glucose - relatively easy to digest (comparing with other sugars produced by plants). At the same time N and P levels are relatively high in pollen (approx. 4%N and 0.5%P, which is high considering pollen as a plant tissue). This makes pollen a valuable source of nutritional elements. Of course insects need to spend energy during pupation (and this should be taken into consideration). The questions are: "how much?" and "how this is related to the nutritional value of pollen?" Taking into account how fast is the bees' larval development (approx.from a week in a honeybee to a month in some mason bee species), I guess that pollen limits the development of its consumers to the relatively low degree. Thus I am interested very much in pollen as a vector redistributing valuable nutrients in ecosystems. 

Interesting study appeared, linked with the topic:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12375/full

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12375/full

hi

Article An Update on the Global Stressors and Constraints Affecting ...

Here is my answer to this question:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0183236

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0183236

Article Ecological stoichiometry of the honeybee: Pollen diversity a...