Apidologie (2007) 38, 508-517

Adi Sadeh, Avi Shmida and Tamar Keasar (2007)
The carpenter bee Xylocopa pubescens as an agricultural pollinator in greenhouses
Apidologie 38 (6), 508-517
Abstract: Many greenhouse crops depend on bees for pollination. Global declines of honeybee populations, and their limited efficiency in pollinating some greenhouse food-plants, motivate the search for additional pollinators. We evaluated the carpenter bee X. pubescens, a local species to Israel, as a pollinator of greenhouse-grown honeydew melons, in comparison to honeybees. We recorded the bees' daily and seasonal activity patterns in relation to floral nectar levels, frequencies and durations of flower visits, and fruit quantity and quality. The bees' daily foraging schedule on melon did not correlate with nectar yield and nectar production patterns by the flowers. Visit durations per flower were shorter for X. pubescens than for honeybees. Pollination by both bees resulted in similar fruit mass and seed numbers, but X. pubescens pollination increased fruit set threefold as compared to honeybee pollination. We conclude that X. pubescens can effectively pollinate melons in enclosures.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Tamar Keasar

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Xylocopa (genus)		Israel