Supplementing honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies with pollen increases their pollinating activity on nectariferous crops with anthers isolated from stigmas.

ABSTRACT: The western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is the most globally used managed pollinator species, but it can have limited pollinating activity on nectariferous crops displaying anthers isolated from stigmas, i.e., when anthers are spatially or temporally separated from stigma within or between flowers. We supplemented honey bee colonies with pollen in the combs or in paste form laid on top of the hive frames to test if these treatments could reduce their pollen foraging and increase their pollinating activity in a monoecious and nectariferous cultivar of cantaloupe melon (Cucumis melo L.), in comparison with control colonies not supplemented. We recorded the pollen forager density per flower, the number of pollen grains deposited per stigma and their resulting fruit set, seed set and fruit m

SUBMITTER: Chabert S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10860159 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature