Bee populations around the world are declining. Human activity is part of the reason. Ongoing changes to the landscapes where bees normally thrive could be reducing their once-bountiful array of nutritional food options. To learn how nutrients from plants shape bee performance, scientists experimented with the diet of red mason bee larvae.

Their experiments were based on the concepts of ecological stoichiometry. This method of chemical accounting views organisms as the product of the available nutrients in their environment. Environments poor in essential minerals prevent the construction of organic molecules necessary for healthy growth.

This approach makes it possible to link nutrient availability to nutritional balance in wild bees under fully controlled settings—something that’s impossible to do in a field study.