posted on 2023-05-20, 00:13authored byGaffney, A, Bohman, B, Stephen Quarrell, Brown, PH, Geoff AllenGeoff Allen
Pollination rates in hybrid carrot crops remain limited after introduction of honey bee hives. In this study, honey bee foraging behaviour was observed in commercial hybrid carrot seed crops. Significantly more visits were made to male-fertile (MF) rather than cytoplasmically male-sterile (CMS) flowers. Pollen was collected from bees returning to a hive, to determine daily variation in pollen loads collected and to what level the bees were foraging for carrot pollen. Honey bees visited a wide range of alternative pollen sources and made relatively few visits to carrot plants throughout the period of flowering. Visitation rates to other individual floral sources fluctuated but visitation to carrot was consistently low. The underlying rate of carrot pollen visits among collecting trips was modelled and estimated to be as low as 1.4%, a likely cause of the limited success implementing honey bee hives in carrot crops.
Funding
Horticulture Innovation Australia
Bejo Seeds Pty Ltd
Midlands Seeds
History
Publication title
Insects
Volume
10
Article number
34
Number
34
Pagination
1-15
ISSN
2075-4450
Department/School
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)
Publisher
MDPIAG
Place of publication
Switzerland
Rights statement
Copyright 2019 The Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Repository Status
Open
Socio-economic Objectives
Processed non-food agricultural products (excl. wood, paper and fibre) not elsewhere classified; Field grown vegetable crops