Honey Bee Contribution to ‘Bordô’ Grapevine Fruit Production in Southern Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT-The production of fruits and seeds of many crops is increased when bees visit their flowers pollinating them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different pollination treatments on 'Bordô' grapevine (Vitis labrusca L.) fruit quantity and quality. Quantitative and qualitative fruit production parameters of plants visited by Apis mellifera L., manually self-and cross-pollinated plants and plants without pollination were analyzed and compared. Fruit production was high for all treatments and all fruits presented four seeds per fruit, on average, confirming that this grape cultivar is autogamous. However, fruit set after spontaneous self-pollination was statistically lower than that of all other treatments, and pollination by A. mellifera showed the highest fruit production. Furthermore, pollination by honey bees resulted in increased biomass, reflected on fruit weight, but the content of soluble solids remained unchanged. The results of this study showed that there is no need of pollinators for fruit production of 'Bordô' cv., but the presence of these agents, in particular Apis mellifera, influences commercially important quality parameters such as fruit yield and fresh weight. Therefore, the use of bee hives in areas with deficit of pollinating insects may promote an improvement in yield and quality of this cultivar. Index terms: Self-and cross-pollination, Apis mellifera, Vitis labrusca. CONTRIBUIÇÃO DA ABELHA MELÍFERA PARA A PRODUÇÃO DE FRUTOS DA VIDEIRA 'BORDÔ' NO SUL DO BRASILRESUMO-A produção de frutos e sementes de várias culturas é favorecida quando abelhas visitam suas flores, efetuando a polinização. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de diferentes métodos de polinização sobre a quantidade e qualidade de frutos da videira 'Bordô' (Vitis labrusca L.). Foram analisados e comparados parâmetros quantitativos e qualitativos da produção de frutos oriundos de visitas por Apis mellifera, de autopolinização manual, de polinização cruzada manual e sem indução de polinização. A produção de frutos foi elevada em todos os tratamentos, e foi observada a formação de quatro sementes, em média, por fruto, confirmando que a cultivar é autocompatível. Entretanto, a proporção de frutos formados por polinização espontânea foi significativamente menor em relação aos outros tratamentos e a polinização por A. mellifera apresentou a maior produção de frutos. Além disso, a polinização por abelhas resultou em aumento significativo da biomassa, refletido na massa dos frutos após a polinização, mas não na quantidade de sólidos solúveis nos frutos. Neste estudo, foi evidenciado que não há necessidade de utilização de agentes polinizadores para a produção de frutos da cv. 'Bordô'. Entretanto, a presença desses agentes, em especial de Apis mellifera, influencia parâmetros de qualidade comercialmente importantes, como a quantidade e a biomassa dos frutos. Assim sendo, o uso de colmeias de abelhas em regiões que apresentam déficit de insetos polinizadores pode promover melhoramento no rendimento e na...

Different visitation frequencies of native and non‐native bees to vines: how much vegetation is necessary to improve fruit production?

“…The soluble solid content of berries from the P4 vineyard, with less native vegetation cover, was lower than the level required by vines for consumption, which is 14°Brix (Jackson 2014). This is a direct negative impact of lower visitor frequency, which has already been reported as a result of poor pollination by bees (Martgnago et al 2017), as well as an indirect negative effect of reduced native vegetation cover mediating floral visitor frequency.…”

“…those more suitable for juice and jelly production (Jackson 2014). It is difficult to specify which compound is responsible for the high pH, but low concentrations of tartaric and malic acids are common reasons for this (Rizzon & Sganzerla 2007;Martgnago et al 2017). Furthermore, tartaric and malic acids indicate the degree of grape ripenesshelping to define harvesting timethus, such substances may also indicate berry ripeness (Soyer et al 2003;Rizzon & Sganzerla 2007).…”

“…Although it can set fruit without pollinators, fruit quantity and quality (soluble solids) is enhanced when pollinators are present; e.g. vineyards produce up to 2% more fresh mass when supported by honeybee pollination services alone (Martgnago et al 2017). Additionally, vegetation management increases floral resource availability, making the landscape more diverse, and compensating for the low diversity of floral resources available in vineyards.…”

“…Consequently, the abundance of pollinating insects in vineyards will increase/improve yield (Kratschmer et al 2019). Apis mellifera is one of the most frequently recorded pollinators in vineyards and, although it is considered as an efficient pollinator, it is also known to promote low levels of gene flow (Giannini et al 2015;Martgnago et al 2017), and to displace native pollinators due to highly effective pollen collection, especially in grapevines (Hogendoorn et al 2016). This bee species may also damage the berries, causing significant losses in some varieties (Botton et al 2005;Carvalho Soares et al 2018).…”

Irrigation with saline water on pineapple grown in the semi-arid of bahia state

“…Studies on pineapple grown in semi-arid regions, under irrigated conditions, were conducted (FRANCO et al, 2014;PEGORARO et al, 2014;MAIA et al, 2016); however, there is a dearth of information with regard to phytotechnical characteristics and quality of pineapple fruits irrigated with saline water inasmuch as the main studies on this subject were conducted by using pots under salinity-induced conditions (IBRAHIM, 2013), growth medium (ELHAG; ELZAIN, 2012), and a hydroponic system (MELO et al, 2017); hence, field studies with pineapples irrigated with saline water are necessary.…”