Editing Bee (section)

=== Digestion ===
The gut of bees is relatively simple, but multiple metabolic strategies exist in the gut [[microbiota]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171212141506.htm  |title=How honey bee gut bacteria help to digest their pollen-rich diet |website=ScienceDaily |access-date=2 January 2020}}</ref> Pollinating bees consume nectar and pollen, which require different digestion strategies by somewhat specialized bacteria. While nectar is a liquid of mostly [[monosaccharide]] sugars and so easily absorbed, pollen contains complex [[polysaccharide]]s: branching [[pectin]] and [[hemicellulose]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2019-12-bee-gut-microbes-division-labor.html |title=Bee gut microbes have a division of labor when it comes to metabolizing complex polysaccharides |website=phys.org |access-date=2 January 2020}}</ref> Approximately five groups of bacteria are involved in digestion. Three groups specialize in simple sugars (''[[Snodgrassella]]'' and two groups of ''[[Lactobacillus]]''), and two other groups in complex sugars (''[[Gilliamella]]'' and ''[[Bifidobacterium]]''). Digestion of pectin and hemicellulose is dominated by bacterial [[clade]]s ''Gilliamella'' and ''[[Bifidobacterium]]'' respectively. Bacteria that cannot digest polysaccharides obtain enzymes from their neighbors, and bacteria that lack certain amino acids do the same, creating multiple [[ecological niche]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zheng |first1=Hao |last2=Perreau |first2=Julie |last3=Powell |first3=J. Elijah |last4=Han |first4=Benfeng |last5=Zhang |first5=Zijing |last6=Kwong |first6=Waldan K. |last7=Tringe |first7=Susannah G. |last8=Moran |first8=Nancy A. |date=December 2019 |title=Division of labor in honey bee gut microbiota for plant polysaccharide digestion |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=116 |issue=51 |pages=25909–25916 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1916224116 |issn=0027-8424 |pmid=31776248|pmc=6926048 |bibcode=2019PNAS..11625909Z |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Although most bee species are [[Nectarivore|nectarivorous]] and [[Palynivore|palynivorous]], some are not. Particularly unusual are [[vulture bee]]s in the genus ''[[Trigona]],'' which consume carrion and wasp brood, turning meat into a honey-like substance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mateus |first1=Sidnei |last2=Noll |first2=Fernando B. |date=February 2004 |title=Predatory behavior in a necrophagous bee Trigona hypogea (Hymenoptera; Apidae, Meliponini) |journal=Naturwissenschaften |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=94–96 |doi=10.1007/s00114-003-0497-1 |pmid=14991148 |issn=1432-1904|bibcode=2004NW.....91...94M |s2cid=26518321 }}</ref> Drinking [[guttation]] drops from leaves is also a source of energy and nutrients.<ref>[https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.1080 Plant guttation provides nutrient-rich food for insects - Journals]</ref>