Pollination Efficiency of Managed Bee Species (Apis mellifera and Bombus pauloensis) in Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) Productivity

Abstract

Understanding how bees use the resources provided by crops of massive flowering is essential to develop meaningful agricultural management of plans to maximize the potential of pollination service. We assessed the effect of the pollination carried out by native species Bombus pauloensis and Apis mellifera on the production and quality of blueberry fruits. In this context, we tested the prediction that pollinator assemblages benefit fruit yield. Four treatments were performed: open pollination, B. pauloensis pollination, A. mellifera pollination, and autogamy. For each treatment, the frequency of floral visitors, fruit setting, yield, and quality were evaluated. The results showed that Vaccinium corymbosum L. ‘Emerald’ is highly dependent on entomophilous pollination to obtain optimal production and high-quality fruit, and that pollination with A. mellifera generated the highest proportion of fruit setting (0.80 ± 0.03). The highest seed number was found in open pollinated fruits. This study highlights the effect of the interactions among wild and managed pollinators on the productivity of commercial blueberry fields, and is the first report of B. pauloensis use in blueberry pollination.

Precision management of pollination services to blueberry crops

“…In relation to the quality of the harvested fruits for each treatment, the firmness of the fruit and weight showed differences between the treatments, with 12% greater firmness and weight in pollinated berries under precision honey bee management. Differences in the weight and the firmness of the berries were reported in blueberry, although these differences occurred between self-pollination treatments versus different entomophilous pollination treatments 36,37 .…”

Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry

“…While positive effects of adding a second managed pollinator have been reported for fruit and nut orchard production 11 , 43 , studies assessing the impact of supplementing honeybees with other managed species in highbush blueberry are scarce. Improvement of fruit yield and quality has been reported for blueberry plots stocked with A. mellifera and B. pauloensis colonies 28 – 30 . However, this is the first report to document the foraging patterns of both managed pollinators over two years with different stocking densities in a mixed plantation, considering the variability of the floral morphology and nectar reward of two co-blooming cultivars.…”

“…Little has been documented, however, about the impact of supplementing honeybees with other managed species in blueberry fields. Although some studies show a positive effect of B. pauloensis colonies in the fruit production 28 – 30 , there are few studies evaluating the foraging behaviour of this native species in different cultivars which may differ in their attractiveness to pollinators.…”

Toward evidence-based decision support systems to optimize pollination and yields in highbush blueberry

“…Wild pollinators alone are not sufficient in large and intensive crop systems where they are less abundant (Isaacs and Kirk, 2010), causing many growers to rely on renting managed western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) and bumble bee (Bombus spp.) colonies for pollination services (Arrington and DeVetter, 2018a;Bobiwash et al, 2018;Cavigliasso et al, 2020;Mallinger et al, 2021). The number of honey bee colonies has globally increased over the last seven decades (Osterman et al, 2021a) and the supply of this pollinator to blueberry farms in North America has not experienced the decrease observed in other crops (Burgett et al, 2004(Burgett et al, , 2010Aizen and Harder, 2009;Breeze et al, 2014).…”