ISHS Acta Horticulturae 444: III International Symposium on Kiwifruit
TECHNIQUES TO INCREASE THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF KIWI FLOWERS TO HONEY BEES |
| Authors: | V. Tsirakoglou, A. Thrasyvoulou, F. Hatjina |
| Abstract:
Directing honey bees onto kiwifruit flowers to ensure better pollination was attempted by: a) spraying the chemical attractant Bee-here™ on kiwifruit trees; b) weeding of several wild plant species that are self-sown around kiwifruit orchards c) feeding sugar syrup to honey bee colonies and d) removing pollen stores from honey bee colonies. Visitation of honey bees to kiwifruit flowers was evaluated by estimating the amount and type of pollen collected from honey bee colonies and direct observation on kiwifruit vines. Removing pollen stores from honey bee colonies increased significantly (by 28.5%) the collection of kiwifruit pollen. Feeding sugar syrup and weeding wild plants did not seem to affect kiwifruit pollen collection. Counts of bees on kiwifruit were made before and 4, 24, 72, 96 and 120 h after spraying with Bee-here™. The treatment showed no difference to controls (sprayed with water). | |
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