New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Cross pollination of `Sundrop' apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.)
by honeybees
P. T. AUSTIN
E. W. HEWETT
Department of Plant Science
Massey University
Private Bag 11 222
Palmerston North, New Zealand
D. A. NOITON
The Horticulture and Food Research
Institute of New Zealand
Havelock North Research Centre
Private Bag 1401
Havelock North, New Zealand
J. A. PLUMMER
Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture
University of Western Australia
WA 6009, Australia
Abstract Pollinator foraging activity on `Sundrop' apricots
(
Prunus armeniaca L.) in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand was investigated to see
if restricted pollen transfer reduced fruit production. Honeybees (
Apis
mellifera L.) were the only significant floral visitors. Most bees
collected pollen and therefore contacted the stigma. Pollen foragers worked
flowers faster than nectar foragers (5.3 versus 2.7 flowers/min). Forager
densities varied widely between days but under good weather conditions reached
9 bees/tree for up to 6 h a day. Neither nectar volume nor its composition
appeared likely to reduce foraging activity. `Sundrop' flowers held up to
20 ul of nectar at an initial concentration of ~5% sugar. Data gathered
were used to estimate forager numbers needed for cross pollination of
`Sundrop'. The calculations indicated that adequate cross pollination is
feasible under Hawkes Bay conditions with hive densities of c.
5.0 hives/ha, within the range normally recommended for stonefruit
crops.
Keywords Apis mellifera; self incompatibility; fruit
set; nectar; foraging; pollen transfer
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 1996, Vol. 24:
287-294
0114-0671/96/2403-0287 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1996
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (655K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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