明亮熊蜂和意大利蜜蜂为温室草莓的授粉行为比较观察

蜜蜂和熊蜂都是理想的授粉昆虫,但熊蜂比蜜蜂更适合为温室果菜授粉,主要由于熊蜂和蜜蜂授粉时的活动方式不同。作者对明亮熊蜂和意大利蜜蜂为日光温室草莓授粉时的行为和活动方式进行了比较研究。结果表明,明亮熊蜂和意大利蜜蜂的授粉行为相似,但活动方式不同。明亮熊蜂开始访花的时间（8:00～8:05）比意大利蜜蜂（9:25～9:40）早,停止访花的时间（15:55～16:05）却比意大利蜜蜂（15:20～15:30）晚;开始访花的温度（12～13℃）也比意大利蜜蜂（>15℃）低,意大利蜜蜂在早晨和阴天不访花。明亮熊蜂个体的日活动时间271.43±4.48 s,明显比意大利蜜蜂个体的日活动时间180.00±2.64 s长,差异显著;而采集时间为105.71±1.16 s,显著长于意大利蜜蜂的76.43±3.83 s。明亮熊蜂每分钟平均访花数为8.44±0.44,极显著高于意大利蜜蜂每分钟的平均访花数2.38±0.15;明亮熊蜂访花间隔为3.81±0.42 s,极显著短于意大利蜜蜂的6.0±0.48 s。明亮熊蜂访花具有选择性,每天访早期花平均为55%,意大利蜜蜂则无选择性,每天访早期花平均为34%,二者差异显著;在9:00～12:00明亮熊蜂访早期花平均为75%,意大利蜜蜂访早期花则仅为31%。熊蜂在花间和花簇间活动频繁,平均移动距离为5.2 m;而意大利蜜蜂很少在花簇间移动,平均移动距离只有1.1 m。据此得出明亮熊蜂为日光温室草莓授粉的活动特性优越于意大利蜜蜂,从而产生更高的授粉效益。

Strawberry pollination by Bombus lucorum and Apis mellifera in greenhouses

Bumble bees and honey bees are important pollinators, but bumble bees are more efficient than honey bees for pollinating fruits and vegetables in greenhouses, which is mainly due to the different activity patterns in pollination between bumble bees and honey bees.The behaviour and activity patterns of Bombus lucorum and Apis mellifera for pollinating strawberry in greenhouse were comparatively studied. The results showed that their behaviour on the flowers was quite similar, but activity patterns were different. B. lucorum visited flowers at 8:00-8:05 earlier than A. mellifera at 9:25-9:40, and ended at 15:55-16:05 later than A. mellifera at 15:20-15:30 B. lucorum began visiting flowers at lower temperature （12-13℃） than A. mellifera did （>15℃）; moreover A. mellifera did not visit flowers in the early morning or cloudy day. The diurnal activity time of individual B. lucorum （271.43±4.48 s）was significantly longer than that of A. mellifera （180.00±2.64 s）. The foraging time of B. lucorum was 105.71±1.16 s,  significantly longer than that of A. mellifera (76.43±3.83 s). B. lucorum spent 3.81±0.42 s on shuttling between flowers, significantly shorter than that of A. mellifera (6.0±0.48) s. B. lucorum visited more flowers per minute （8.44±0.44） than A. mellifera did （2.38±0.15）. A. mellifera bees were not particularly selective between strawberry flower with different ages, and they visited 34% young flowers per day. In contrast, B. lucorum strongly selected young flowers, and up to 55% of the flowers visited were young （P<0.05）; B. lucorum visited 75% young flowers at 9:00-12:00, whereas A. mellifera visited 31% young flowers at the same time. B. lucorum bees moved around more than did A. mellifera, and they frequently visited only one or two flowers in a patch and then flew some distance along the rows or between rows, with a mean “row length" per visit sequence of 5.2 m. In contrast, the mean “row length" for all A. mellifera visit sequences was just 1.1 m. It was so concluded that B. lucorum bumble bees are more efficient pollinators for greenhouse strawberry than A. mellifera honey bees.