No abstract

. 2004. Plant-species identity of pollen collected by bumblebees placed in greenhouses for tomato pollination. Can. J. Plant Sci. 84: 599-602. The seasonal variation of pollen collected from different plant species by greenhouse bumblebees was investigated to determine how frequently bumblebees forage outside of commercial tomato greenhouses. Pollen was collected from bumblebees at three greenhouses between February and September 2001 and the plant species identity of pollen collected was determined with light microscopy. A significant amount of non-tomato pollen was collected by bumblebees during one or more months from outside each of the three greenhouses studied. The bees brought back as little as an average of 5% non-tomato pollen between February and September at one greenhouse and as much as 73% during July at another. Therefore, greenhouse tomato growers are probably not obtaining maximum pollination benefit from bumblebee colonies and should address methods to reduce their foraging outside the greenhouse. À chaque endroit, les bourdons ont prélevé une importante quantité de pollen d'autres fleurs que celles de la tomate pendant un ou plusieurs mois. Ainsi, de février à septembre, les bourdons d'une serre ont rapporté en moyenne jusqu'à un minimum de 5 % de pollen d'autres plantes; en juillet, ils en ont rapporté jusqu'à un maximum de 73 % dans une autre serre. Les producteurs de tomates de serre pourraient donc ne pas obtenir la pollinisation optimale qu'ils espèrent des colonies de bourdons. On devrait envisager diverses méthodes pour empêcher les insectes de butiner à l'extérieur des installations.

Experiments were conducted in commercial tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Miller (Solanaceae), greenhouses to compare the relative foraging effort of two bumble bee species, Bombus occidentalis Greene and Bombus impatiens Cresson, to examine interspecific competition between B. occidentalis and B. impatiens, and to determine whether bumble bee colonies grew to their full population potential in commercial tomato greenhouses. B. impatiens colonies had more brood and workers and made more foraging trips per hour than B. occidentalis colonies. However, B. impatiens returned to the colony without pollen loads and left their colonies without dropping off their pollen loads more frequently than B. occidentalis greenhouse colonies. Our data also suggest that the presence of B. impatiens had a detrimental effect on B. occidentalis populations. Furthermore, B. occidentalis colonies did not grow to their full population potential in tomato greenhouses, with fewer workers in greenhouse colonies than in colonies placed outside in a natural environment, or in colonies that were physically enclosed and protected from external mortality. Together, this study suggests that B. impatiens is a better pollinator than B. occidentalis. It also shows that unknown factors are limiting the size of B. occidentalis colonies in tomato greenhouses.

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to evaluate neem oil and neem extract for the management of key honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) pests. Neem pesticides inhibited the growth of Paenibacillus larvae (Ash, Priest & Collins) in vitro but had no effect on the growth of Ascophaera apis (Olive & Spiltoir). Azadirachtin-rich extract (neem-aza) was 10 times more potent than crude neem oil (neem oil) against P. larvae suggesting that azadirachtin is a main antibiotic component in neem. Neem-aza, however, was ineffective at controlling the honey bee mite parasites Varroa jacobsoni (Ouduemans) and Acarapis woodi (Rennie). Honey bees also were deterred from feeding on sucrose syrup containing > 0.01 mg/ml of neem-aza. However, neem oil applied topically to infested bees in the laboratory proved highly effective against both mite species. Approximately 50-90% V. jacobsoni mortality was observed 48 h after treatment with associated bee mortality lower than 10%. Although topically applied neem oil did not result in direct A. woodi mortality, it offered significant protection of bees from infestation by A. woodi. Other vegetable and petroleum-based oils also offered selective control of honey bee mites, suggesting neem oil has both a physical and a toxicological mode of action. Although oils are not as selective as the V. jacobsoni acaricide tau-fluvalinate, they nonetheless hold promise for the simultaneous management of several honey bee pests.

Neem oil, neem extract (neem-aza), and canola oil were evaluated for the management of the honey bee mite parasites Varroa jacobsoni (Oudemans) and Acarapis woodi (Rennie) in field experiments. Spraying neem oil on bees was more effective at controlling V. jacobsoni than feeding oil in a sucrose-based matrix (patty), feeding neem-aza in syrup, or spraying canola oil. Neem oil sprays also protected susceptible bees from A. woodi infestation. Only neem oil provided V. jacobsoni control comparable to the known varroacide formic acid, but it was not as effective as the synthetic product Apistan (tau-fluvalinate). Neem oil was effective only when sprayed six times at 4-d intervals and not when applied three times at 8-d intervals. Neem oil spray treatments had no effect on adult honey bee populations, but treatments reduced the amount of sealed brood in colonies by 50% and caused queen loss at higher doses. Taken together, the results suggest that neem and canola oil show some promise for managing honey bee parasitic mites, but the negative effects of treatments to colonies and the lower efficacy against V. jacobsoni compared with synthetic acaricides may limit their usefulness to beekeepers.