scholarly journals Abundance and Diversity of Native Bumble Bees Associated with Agricultural Crops: The Willamette Valley Experience

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujaya Rao ◽  
W. P. Stephen
Keyword(s):  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Willamette Valley ◽  
Declining Populations ◽  
Eusocial Bees ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Clover Seed ◽  
Seed Crops

There are widespread concerns about declining populations of bumble bees due to conversion of native habitats to agroecosystems. Certain cropping systems, however, provide enormous foraging resources, and are beneficial for population build up of native bees, especially eusocial bees such as bumble bees. In this review, we present evidence of a flourishing bumble bee fauna in the Willamette Valley in western Oregon which we believe is sustained by cultivation of bee-pollinated crops which bloom in sequence, and in synchrony with foraging by queens and workers of a complex of bumble bee species. In support of our perspective, we describe the Oregon landscape and ascribe the large bumble bee populations to the presence of a pollen source in spring (cultivated blueberries) followed by one in summer (red clover seed crops). Based on our studies, we recommend integration into conservation approaches of multiple agroecosystems that bloom in sequence for sustaining and building bumble bee populations.

scholarly journals The Comparative Effects of the Micro- and Macrosporogenesis of the Red Clover with Different Levels of Ploidy, in Relation with its Fertility

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marioara GREBENISAN ◽  
Mircea SAVATTI
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Structural Modification ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Pollen Dispersion ◽  
Pollination Mechanisms ◽  
S Alleles ◽  
Clover Seed ◽  
Different Levels

. In this paper the di- and tetraploid red clover seedlings will be compared, under the aspects of micro and macrosporogenesys regarding his fertility. After a vast amount of research, the results obtained were that, often, the low seed yield in di- and tetraploid red clover is caused by fertility perturbance.One of the purpose of the experiments during the years 2004-2006, was to determine the low fertility effects and to offer important clues about di- and tetraploid red clover seed production. Red clover is a typical allogamous plant in which the autincompatibility system determined by the S alleles is very strong. The pollination is compulsorily done by honey and bumble bees, so the pollination mechanisms are being considerate as carrier of sexual differentiation, marked by microsporogenesys and macrosporogenesys, structural modification of flowers, pollen dispersion ecology and structural and physiological barriers as a reaction to fecundation process.

scholarly journals Drastic historic shifts in bumble-bee community composition in Sweden

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1727) ◽  
pp. 309-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Bommarco ◽  
Ola Lundin ◽  
Henrik G. Smith ◽  
Maj Rundlöf
Keyword(s):  
Seed Yield ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Management Schemes ◽  
Relative Abundances ◽  
Bee Community ◽  
Flower Visiting ◽  
Clover Seed ◽  
Seed Yields

The species richness of flower-visiting insects has declined in past decades, raising concerns that the ecosystem service they provide by pollinating crops and wild plants is threatened. The relative commonness of different species with shared ecological traits can play a pervasive role in determining ecosystem functioning, but information on changes in abundances of pollinators over time is lacking. We gathered data on relative abundances of bumble-bee species in Swedish red clover fields during three periods in the last 70 years (1940s, 1960s and present), and on clover seed yields since 1921. We found drastic decreases in bumble-bee community evenness, with potential consequences for level and stability of red clover seed yield. The relative abundances of two short-tongued bumble-bees have increased from 40 per cent in the 1940s to entirely dominate present communities with 89 per cent. Average seed yield declined in recent years and variation in yield doubled, suggesting that the current dependence on few species for pollination has been especially detrimental to stability in seed yield. Our results suggest a need to develop management schemes that promote not only species-rich but also more evenly composed communities of service-providing organisms.

BUMBLE BEE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS TO IMPROVE 'GRASSlANDS PAWERA' RED CLOVER SEED YIELDS

1983 ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.P. Macfarlane ◽  
R.P. Griffin ◽  
P.E.C. Read
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Field Placement ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Colony Management ◽  
Clover Seed ◽  
Seed Yields

Three options of bumble bee management for red clover pollination are discussed: spring supplementation with queens caught outside the locality; colony introduction at flowering; and permanently sited hives close to the crop. The first two options must be carried out annually whereas the last option presupposes an adequate local food source prior to flowering. It is contended that even with successful permanent siting further annual introductions would be required where the area in crop is to be considerably increased. Details of hive construction, field placement and colony management are outlined. In 1982 the amount of seed set, on a machine dressed basis, for one colony of B. hortorom and B. ruderatus was 130 kg and 56 kg respectively Keywords: Pawera red clover, seed yields, Bombus hortorum, B. ruderatus, hive construction, colony management.

Further Studies on the Food-Gathering Behaviour of Bumble Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

1962 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 538-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Food Preferences ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Corolla Tube ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Experimental Field ◽  
Foraging Experience ◽  
Innate Behaviour ◽  
The Individual

Brian (1954) discussed the evidence in the literature concerning whether the correlation between the length of the proboscis of a bumble bee and the length of the corolla tube of the flower it visits for nectar results from learned or innate behaviour. She hesitated to accept the views of Kugler (1943), who supported the ‘learned’ hypothesis and considered that the individual bumble bee is instinctively attracted to a flower by its colour, scent, etc., but must learn which flowers are suited to its bodily build, because he had done no work on bees raised in isolation and therefore known to be without foraging experience. The work of Cumber (1949), which reported that there were differences in proboscis lengths between individuals of a species that visited different flowers and which therefore also supported the learned hypothesis, was suspect because he gave no data on corolla lengths. Hobbs et al. (1961), who recorded the food-preferences of certain of the workers, queens, and males of honey, bumble, and leaf-cutter bees on an isolated experimental field containing plots of alfalfa, red clover, alsike clover, and sweetclover, concluded that the preference exhibited by a bee was linked with the ease with which it could gather nectar from a flower. They found, as did Cumber, that differences in prolboscis-lengths between individuals of a species resulted in preferences for flowers of different corolla-tube lengths, e.g., the queens of Bombus hunti Greene (mean length of proboscis 8.7 mm.) greatly preferred red clover, whereas the workers (m.l.p. 6.3 mm.) preferred sweetclover.

Red clover casebearer moth (Coleophora deauratella) is widespread throughout New Zealand

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 232-239
Author(s):  
Richard Chynoweth ◽  
Phil Rolston ◽  
Mark McNeill ◽  
Scott Hardwick ◽  
Olivia Bell
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Adult Emergence ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Pyrethroid Insecticides ◽  
Lambda Cyhalothrin ◽  
Baseline Temperature ◽  
Clover Seed ◽  
Seed Crops ◽  
And Control

Coleophora deauratella (red-clover casebearer moth, RCCB) was first confirmed as present in New Zealand during late 2016. It devastated red-clover seed crops throughout the mid-Canterbury region during the 2016/17 growing season but its distribution and control options were unknown. Therefore, traps containing a male pheromone specific to RCCB were located inside either red-clover seed crops or hay crops at 27 sites throughout the South Island and lower North Island during summer 2017/18. Moth numbers were monitored at 7—14-day intervals between November and February. RCCB was confirmed as present at all 27 sites (from Invercargill to Masterton). Peak flights occurred during December with mean moth catch well correlated in thermal time, with half of adult emergence occurring 285˚C days from 1 July (baseline temperature=12oC). Laboratory-based trials were conducted against live moths to evaluate the effectiveness of various organophosphate and synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. Tau-fluvalinate, lambda cyhalothrin and chlorpyrifos each provided >90% control of moths so chemical control is possible, if required. However, an integrated pest-management control strategy needs to be tested and evaluated.

Life-History, Behaviour, and Ecology of the Clover Seed Midge, Dasyneura leguminicola (Lint.) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), in Eastern Ontario

1961 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Guppy
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Life History ◽  
New Brunswick ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Severe Damage ◽  
Eastern Ontario ◽  
Clover Seed ◽  
Seed Crops

The clover seed midge, Dasyneura leguminicola (Lint.), is one of the most important pests in red clbver seed fields in Ontario wherever the double-cut varieties are grown. The larvae feed within the clover florets, destroying the ovaries; if numerous, they prevent many fields from producing seed crops worth harvesting. In 1951 and 1952 and to a lesser degree in 1953, severe damage occurred in seed fields in eastern Ontario (Guppy, 1958); since then populations of the insect have gradually declined. British Columbia, Quebec, and New Brunswick are the only other provinces in Canada from which damage has been reported. However, the insect probably occurs wherever red clover is found in Canada.

Bumble Bee Pollinators in Red Clover Seed Production

Crop Science ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 2207-2214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujaya Rao ◽  
William P. Stephen
Keyword(s):  
Seed Production ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Clover Seed

scholarly journals The potential of electricity transmission corridors in forested areas as bumble bee habitat

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Hill ◽  
Ignasi Bartomeus
Keyword(s):  
Transmission Lines ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Electricity Transmission ◽  
Pollinator Abundance ◽  
Management Regime ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Bee Conservation ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

AbstractDeclines in pollinator abundance and diversity are not only a conservation issue but also a threat to crop pollination. Maintained infrastructure corridors, such as those containing electricity transmission lines, are potentially important wild pollinator habitat. However, there is a lack of evidence comparing the abundance and diversity of wild pollinators in transmission corridors with other important pollinator habitats. We compared the diversity of a key pollinator group, bumble bees (Bombus spp.), between transmission corridors and the surrounding semi-natural and managed habitat types at ten sites across Sweden’s Uppland region. Our results show that transmission corridors have no impact on bumble bee diversity in the surrounding area. However, transmission corridors and other maintained habitats have a level of bumble bees abundance and diversity comparable to semi-natural grasslands and host species that are important for conservation and ecosystem service provision. Under the current management regime, transmission corridors already provide valuable bumble bee habitat, but given that host plant density is the main determinant of bumble bee abundance, these areas could potentially be enhanced by establishing and maintaining key host plants. We show that in northern temperate regions the maintenance of transmission corridors has the potential to contribute to bumble bee conservation and the ecosystem services they provide.

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