Comparison of Pollen-Collecting Abilities between Apis mellifera L. and Bombus terrestris L. in the Oil Tree Peony Field

Abstract

The lack of pollinators in the oil tree peony field was a serious problem for the seed yield. In the preliminary studies, we found that the seed rate of oil tree peonies was significantly improved by supplementing bees during the flowering stages in the pollination net room. In addition, the performance of Apis mellifera L. was better than Bombus terrestris L. To understand the interaction relationship between flowering characteristics and the managed bees, and the pollen-collecting ability of different species of bees, the flowering traits and the pollen loaded on bees were measured in this study. We found that the bees visited flowers with preference and they prefer to forage the flowers having pollen with higher viability. The B. terrestris carried more pollen (27,000.00 ± 5613.70 grains) on the body surface than that of the A. mellifera (7690.00 ± 2873.26 grains). The A. mellifera outperformed B. terrestris both in pollen deposition per visit on the stigma and on the pollen transfer efficiency. The viability of pollen on the body surface (67.77% ± 19.06%) and hind legs (92.02% ± 10.74%) of A. mellifera were both significantly higher than that of B. terrestris (31.84% ± 4.84% and 83.77% ± 6.40%). Our study indicated that the quantity and quality of pollen loaded on stigma by A. mellifera were both better than B. terrestris, which provided evidence that the A. mellifera was the effective pollinator pollinating for the oil tree peony in the pollination net room.

A Set of Artificial Pollination Technical Measures: Improved Seed Yields and Active Ingredients of Seeds in Oil Tree Peonies

“…Insect pollination has been found to significantly enhance both the rate and quality of fruit development, as evidenced by similar findings in P. ostii 'Feng Dan' cultivation [18]. Furthermore, investigations on the impact of different bee species on seed yield have revealed that honey bees exhibit superior pollination efficiency compared to bumble bees [19,20]. However, the tree peony lacks nectarines, and the cost of building sealed greenhouses and buying insects may far outweigh the benefits of increased yields, so it is necessary to explore new and feasible pollination methods.…”