ISHS Acta Horticulturae 288: VI International Symposium on Pollination
POLLINATION NEEDS OF ‘GRASSLANDS PAWERA’ RED CLOVER |
| Authors: | R.P. Macfarlane, H.J. van den Ende, R.P. Griffin |
| Abstract:
Populations of red clover racemes and bees were studied on 16 commercial crops, 8 of which were supplemented with 1–15 colonies of bumble bees/ha. One crop at Greenpark was monitored intensively to verify and refine parameters for a predictive model. On this crop 85% (range 81–91) of the flowers were cross pollinated with an average of 1 544 long tongued bumble bees/ha. Prevailing temperatures allowed for 5.6 hours flight each day for honey bees and 10 hours for bumble bees. From the model it was concluded that for maximum seed set the best flowering crops need 4 000 long tongued bumble bees, or their equivalent, per ha. Average crops need half this amount of long tongued bumble bees. It was estimated that on average 33% of the flowers were pollinated in the commercial crops not stocked with bumble bees. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
