Honey Bee Pollination of <i>Camellia oleifera</i> and Mitigation of Toxic Crop Nectar.

ABSTRACT: Tea oil tree (Camellia oleifera), a woody oil crop native to Southern China, relies on insect pollination for fruit and seed production. However, its nectar is toxic to honey bees (Apis spp.) due to their inability to digest the oligosaccharide present in the nectar. This toxicity raises concerns about the trade-off between the benefits of pollination and the risks posed by exposures to toxic nectar. We aimed to investigate whether tea oil tree yield is enhanced by honey bee pollination, while also examining the impact of nectar toxicity and exploring potential mitigation methods. We evaluated the fruit set, seed yield, and oil quality of the crop with or without eastern honey bee (A. cerana) pollination during 2019-2022. We also characterized nectar oligosaccharide co

SUBMITTER: Liu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12563362 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature