scholarly journals Nectar-Robbing Carpenter Bees Reduce Seed-Setting Capability of Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Rabbiteye Blueberry,Vaccinium ashei, ‘Climax’

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selim Dedej ◽  
Keith S. Delaplane
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Nectar Robbing ◽  
Seed Setting ◽  
Vaccinium Ashei ◽  
Carpenter Bees

scholarly journals Large Carpenter Bees as Agricultural Pollinators

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar Keasar
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Nectar Robbing ◽  
Pollination Service ◽  
Carpenter Bees ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Low Illumination ◽  
Greenhouse Tomatoes

Large carpenter bees (genusXylocopa) are wood-nesting generalist pollinators of broad geographical distribution that exhibit varying levels of sociality. Their foraging is characterized by a wide range of food plants, long season of activity, tolerance of high temperatures, and activity under low illumination levels. These traits make them attractive candidates for agricultural pollination in hot climates, particularly in greenhouses, and of night-blooming crops. Carpenter bees have demonstrated efficient pollination service in passionflower, blueberries, greenhouse tomatoes and greenhouse melons. Current challenges to the commercialization of these attempts lie in the difficulties of mass-rearingXylocopa, and in the high levels of nectar robbing exhibited by the bees.

scholarly journals Pollinators on Cowpea Vigna unguiculata: Implications for Intercropping to Enhance Biodiversity

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Beatrice N. Dingha ◽  
Louis E. Jackai ◽  
Barbara A. Amoah ◽  
Clement Akotsen-Mensah
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Sticky Traps ◽  
Pollinator Abundance ◽  
Carpenter Bees ◽  
Cowpea Varieties ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Pan Traps

Pollinators are on the decline and loss of flower resources play a major role. This raises concerns regarding production of insect-pollinated crops and therefore food security. There is urgency to mitigate the decline through creation of farming systems that encourage flower-rich habitats. Cowpea is a crop that produces pollen and nectar attractive to pollinators. Twenty-four cowpea varieties were planted, and the number of pollinators were counted using three sampling methods: pan traps, sticky traps, and direct visual counts. Five pollinator types (honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, wasps, and butterflies and moths), 11 and 16 pollinator families were recorded from direct visual counts, pan and sticky traps, respectively. Pollinator distribution varied significantly among varieties and sampling methods, with highest number on Penny Rile (546.0 ± 38.6) and lowest (214.8 ± 29.2) in Iron and Clay. Sticky traps accounted for 45%, direct visual counts (31%), and pan traps (23%) of pollinators. Pollinators captured by pan traps were more diverse than the other methods. The relationship between number of pollinators and number of flowers was significant (r2 = 0.3; p = 0.009). Cowpea can increase resources for pollinators and could be used to improve pollinator abundance and diversity in different farming systems.

scholarly journals Osmia lignaria (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) produce larger and heavier blueberries than honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Cairns Fortuin ◽  
Kamal JK Gandhi
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Solitary Bee ◽  
Field Cage ◽  
Vaccinium Ashei ◽  
Osmia Lignaria ◽  
Berry Weight ◽  
Berry Size

AbstractFruit set, berry size, and berry weight were assessed for pollination by the solitary bee Osmia lignaria (Say) in caged rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium ashei Reade, Ericales : Ericaceae), and compared to that of uncaged rabbiteye blueberries which were pollinated largely by honey bees (Apis mellifera L). O. linaria produced berries that were 1.6mm larger in diameter and 0.45g heavier than uncaged blueberries. Fruit set was 40% higher in uncaged blueberries. This suggests that Osmia bees can produce larger and heavier berry fruit, but O. lignaria may be less efficient at blueberry pollination as compared to A. mellifera under field cage conditions.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Native and Nonnative Ornamentals as Pollinator Plants in Florida: I. Floral Abundance and Insect Visitation

HortScience ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-136
Author(s):  
Heather Kalaman ◽  
Sandra B. Wilson ◽  
Rachel E. Mallinger ◽  
Gary W. Knox ◽  
Edzard van Santen
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Nonnative Species ◽  
Native Bees ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Carpenter Bees ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
Flower Visiting

Diverse floral resources impart immense value for pollinating insects of all types. With increasing popularity and demand for modern ornamental hybrids, cultivation by breeders has led to selection for a suite of traits such as extended bloom periods and novel colors and forms deemed attractive to the human eye. Largely understudied is pollinator preference for these new cultivars, as compared with their native congeners. To address this gap in understanding, 10 species of popular herbaceous flowering plants, commonly labeled as pollinator-friendly, were evaluated at two sites in Florida [U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cold hardiness zones 8b and 9a] and across three seasons for their floral abundance and overall attractiveness to different groups of pollinating insects. Each genus, apart from pentas, encompassed a native and nonnative species. Native species included blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella), lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), pineland lantana (Lantana depressa), and scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea). Nonnative species included Barbican™ yellow-red ring blanket flower (G. aristata ‘Gaiz005’), Bloomify™ rose lantana (L. camara ‘UF-1011-2’), mysty salvia (S. longispicata ×farinacea ‘Balsalmysty’), Lucky Star® dark red pentas (Pentas lanceolata ‘PAS1231189’), ruby glow pentas (P. lanceolata ‘Ruby glow’) and Uptick™ Gold & Bronze coreopsis (Coreopsis × ‘Baluptgonz’). Flower-visiting insects were recorded during five-minute intervals in the morning and categorized into the following morpho-groups: honey bees, large-bodied bees (bumble and carpenter bees), other bees (small to medium-bodied native bees), butterflies/moths, and wasps. Floral abundance and pollinator visitation varied widely by season, location, and species. Of the plant species evaluated, nonnative plants produced nearly twice as many flowers as native plants. About 22,000 floral visitations were observed. The majority of visits were by native, small to medium-bodied bees (55.28%), followed by butterflies and moths (15.4%), large-bodied native bees (11.8%), wasps (10.0%), and honey bees (7.6%). Among plant genera, both native and nonnative coreopsis and blanket flower were most attractive to native, small to medium-bodied bees (e.g., sweat bees, leafcutter bees) with the greatest number of visitations occurring during the early and midmonths of the study (May–August). Across the study, butterflies and moths visited lantana more frequently than all other ornamentals evaluated, whereas pentas were most attractive to wasps. Large-bodied bees visited plants most frequently in May and June, primarily foraging from both native and nonnative salvia. While results from this study showed nominal differences between native and nonnative species in their ability to attract the studied pollinator groups, care should be taken to making similar assessments of other modern plant types.

scholarly journals Pollination ecology of Brownlowia tersa (Malvaceae), a Near Threatened non-viviparous true mangrove shrub

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 14119-14127
Author(s):  
Aluri Jacob Solomon Raju
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
In Situ Conservation ◽  
Small Male ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Tidal Water ◽  
Carpenter Bees ◽  
Near Threatened

Brownlowia tersa is a low-ground semi-evergreen shrub species.  The phenological events occur sequentially—leaf fall, leaf flushing, flowering and fruiting from April to November.  It is hermaphroditic, protandrous, self-compatible, facultative xenogamous, and melittophilous involving worker honey bees, small male and female carpenter bees and male and female cuckoo bees.  Of these, worker honey bees and female carpenter bees forage for both pollen and nectar while male carpenter bees and both sexes of cuckoo bees forage exclusively for nectar.  Cuckoo bees are very important for cross-pollination because they are swift fliers and visit many flowers from different plants in the shortest time.  Carpenter bees and honey bees are largely important for self-pollination as they are not fast fliers and tend to spend more time at each flower for forage collection.  The flowers have a specialized pollination mechanism to resort to autonomous autogamy if not pollinated but this mode of pollination is subject to the availability of pollen in its own anthers.  Fruit is a 1-seeded follicle produced from a single carpel of the flower.  It is indehiscent and floats in tidal water when detached from the plant.  When settled in muddy substratum, it breaks open to expose the seed which germinates and produces a new plant in quick succession.  The study reports that the plant is highly threatened due to different human economic activities taking place in the area and hence immediate in situ conservation measures are required for its protection and propagation. 

scholarly journals Effects of Honey Bee Pollination on Pumpkin Fruit and Seed Yield

HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 370-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Alan Walters ◽  
Bradley H. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Cucurbita Pepo ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Fruit Size ◽  
Field Conditions ◽  
Bee Pollination ◽  
Fruit Number ◽  
Carpenter Bees ◽  
Bee Colonies

The objective of this study was to measure honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) impact on seed set, fruit set, and yield of jack-o-lantern (Cucurbita pepo L.), large-sized (C. maxima Duch.), and processing pumpkins (C. moschata Duch. ex Poir.) under field conditions. There were sufficient natural pollinators [including bumblebees (Bombus spp.), carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.), honey bees, and squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa Say)] provided under field conditions to induce fruit set of jack-o-lantern pumpkins as fruit number obtained per hectare was not affected by the addition of a honey bee colony. However, the addition of honey bees did increase fruit number per hectare of the C. moschata and C. maxima cultivars evaluated. Honey bee pollination resulted in larger-sized fruit, increasing individual fruit size of all but small-sized pumpkins (<0.5 kg). Individual pumpkin fruit weights of the Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, and C. maxima cultivars evaluated increased by about, 26%, 70%, and 78%, respectively, when honey bee colonies were included. Natural pollination was insufficient to stimulate maximum fruit size development and seed number and seed weight per fruit. Although pumpkin fruit set will occur with natural pollinators, the addition of honey bee colonies will ensure the presence of pollinators to maximize fruit size. Since pumpkins are generally sold on a weight basis, growers may generate greater revenues with the addition of honey bee colonies in pumpkin fields.

When do honey bees use snapshots during navigation?

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Bartlett ◽  
Fred Dyer
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees
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