Pollination efficacy of stingless bees, Tetragonula pagdeni Schwarz (Apidae: Meliponini), on greenhouse tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum Linnaeus)

Abstract

The stingless bee Tetragonula pagdeni is distributed over a vast Southeast Asian territory. This species is commonly used as a commercial insect pollinator. Pollination efficacy of T. pagdeni was investigated with tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cultivated in greenhouse environments. In the first experiment, the number of fruit sets, number of seeds, fresh weight, and fruit height were quantified in the greenhouse with stingless bees, without stingless bees, and with pollination by mechanical vibration by hand. In the second experiment, the treatments were conducted with tomatoes of indeterminate growth in the greenhouse with and without stingless bees to prevent variation among the different tomato plants. The obtained results showed that a greenhouse with stingless bees presented 85 ± 4.24 fruits per 100 flowers, more than a greenhouse with mechanical vibration (79.5 ± 2.12 fruits per 100 flowers) or a greenhouse without stingless bees (15 ± 0.00 fruits per 100 flowers). In addition, fruit produced in a greenhouse with stingless bees showed greater fruit weight and number of seeds than fruit produced in a greenhouse without stingless bees or pollinated by mechanical vibration. According to the obtained results, we suggest that T. pagdeni could be beneficial as an insect pollinator of greenhouse tomatoes in tropical regions, where the use of honeybees and bumblebees would be more difficult.

The effects of meliponicultural use of Tetragonula laeviceps on other bee pollinators and pollination efficacy of lemon

“…This finding is supported by the highest number of T. laeviceps entering and exiting the hive ( Abduh et al, 2023 ). However, the highest foraging activity in Tetragonula pagdeni was at 10:00 in greenhouse conditions ( Wongsa, Duangphakdee & Rattanawannee, 2023 ). Furthermore, several studies reported that at 11:00, T. laeviceps was the visiting mostly strawberry, mango, and orange flowers ( Atmowidi et al, 2022 ; Chuttong et al, 2022 ; Nurdiansyah, Abduh & Permana, 2023 ).…”

“…flavocincta outside the hive ( Barbosa et al, 2020 ). However, observations on stingless bee Tetragonula pagdeni suggest that foraging activity in collecting pollen from tomatoes plants increases under stable temperature conditions ( Wongsa, Duangphakdee & Rattanawannee, 2023 ). These findings suggest that when temperature conditions are relatively stable, other microclimate conditions such as light intensity can play an important role in augmenting bee pollinator activity, especially regarding stingless bees during resource collection.…”

“…This issue has prompted several studies on applied bee cultivation in agroecosystems to enhance productivity ( Aslan & Yavuksuz, 2010 ; Nunes-Silva et al, 2013 ; Hall et al, 2020 ; Amon et al, 2023 ). The application of meliponiculture has expanded in tropical regions with enhanced pollination efficacy of 10–70% ( da Silva et al, 2017 ; Azmi et al, 2019 ; Layek, Das & Karmakar, 2022 ; Reddy, Chauhan & Singh, 2022 ; Balaji et al, 2023 ; Wongsa, Duangphakdee & Rattanawannee, 2023 ), particularly in Indonesia with 20–48% ( Putra, Permana & Kinasih, 2014 ; Alpionita, Atmowidi & Kahono, 2021 ; Atmowidi et al, 2022 ; Nurdiansyah, Abduh & Permana, 2023 ).…”

Distinct fungal microbiomes of two Thai commercial stingless bee species, Lepidotrigona terminata and Tetragonula pagdeni suggest a possible niche separation in a shared habitat

“…Tetragonula pagdeni is a common species found throughout Southeast Asia ( Wongsa et al., 2023 ). The average body length ranges from 3.4 mm to 3.9 mm, and the body color varies from black to blackish brown ( Sakagami, 1978 ; Vijayakumar and Jeyaraaj, 2020 ).…”

Traditional Knowledge of Plants for Sunggau Rafters on Three Forest Types for Conservation of Apis dorsata in Indonesia

“…The existence of A. dorsata in the Belitung Islands plays a fundamental role in community life. The bees contribute as important pollinators for natural plant communities and crops [24,25] and provide bee products such as honey and beebread [15]. The giant A. dorsata migrates annually to the blooming flowers across the continent [26,27].…”