Development of hives for field population increase, and studies on the life cycles of the four species of introduced bumble bees in New Zealand

Abstract

In the 3 years 1971-73, of 340 field nest boxes and hives of several different designs, 84 (24.7%) were occupied by all 4 introduced bumble bee species in New Zealand. Fieldcollected and induced nests were generally similar in bee productivity. Reproductive nests of Bombus hortorllln and B. terrestris produced from 2 to 5 times as many individuals as did nests of the same 2 species in Europe. The increase is attributable to the bumble bees freedom in New Zealand from all but 3 of their enemies present in Europe, the lack of endemic New Zealand enemies, and the r':lative freedom from competition for food by other bee species. Some nests of these 2 species were founded throughout most of the year. Nests of B. ruderatus and B. subterraneus were similar in production of total individuals to nests of the same 2 species in Europe: nests were founded only in spring and summer, and competition for food from the other 2 species may have limited nest size. Only 32 (38.1 %) of the induced nests produced new queens. Nest mortality was greatest when the foundress queens disappeared or died in the nest (52.4%). In the 3 seasons, the number of new queens produced by reproductive nests was 12.4 times greater than the number of queens (tOO) involved in founding all 84 nests. New queens that return to maternal nests may investigate replicas of the maternal nests when nest site searching. The tendency of some new queens to return to the vicinity of the maternal nests the following season, and the increased numbers of foundress queens present in subsequent years because of the presence of hives, may lead to increasingly high acceptance rates from season to season. The designed hives were adequate for all phases of nest development, but future hives should allow for better drainage and should be constructed of more durable materials. Prospects for increasing populations of bumble bees in New Zealand by use of simply constructed field-placed hives appear to be excellent. 733

Floral biology and breeding system of pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa, Myrtaceae)

“…The inflorescences are set on the periphery of the canopy and bear hermaphrodite, large, red brush flowers that produce copious nectar. Flower visitors include the native New Zealand honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) (Angehr 1986), a range of introduced birds (Anderson 1997), native and introduced bees (Donovan 1980;Salmon 1980), and also geckos and bats (Whitaker 1987;Eifler 1995;Arkins 1996). Seed production in pohutukawa is reported to be generally low, and the majority of the seeds are sterile (Dawson 1968(Dawson , 1970a.…”

Interspecific Hybridization of the Korean Native Bumblebee Bombus hypocrita sapporoensia and the European Bumblebee B. terrestris

“…terrestris into greenhouses because it is highly invasive (Hingston et al, 2002), could possibly escape from greenhouses, and could have negative effects through competition (Ono and Wada, 1996;Velthuis and van Doorn, 2006;Inoue et al, 2008;Inoue and Yokoyama, 2010), genetic contamination by hybridization (Rhymer and Simberloff, 1996;Ono, 1997;Kanbe et al, 2008) with native bumblebees, or through naturalization (Donovan and Wier 1978;Dafni and Shimida, 1996;Ruz andHerrera 2001, Hingston et al, 2002). The competitive displacement of native pollinators and the invasion of native vegetation by B. terrestris have already been recorded in Tasmania, Australia (Semmens et al, 1993;McQuillan, 1998, 1999;Hingston et al, 2002).…”

Observations of Successful Bombus terrestris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Colonies in Southern Tasmania

“…As a consequence most Tasmanian lowland areas have poorly differentiated seasons with milder winters than those of England (as does New Zealand). Donovan and Weir (1978) mention that nest founding by B.…”

“…New Zealand B. terrestris populations are largely bivoltine (Cumber 1954;Gurr 1957;Donovan and Weir 1978) unlike those in their native England, but Macfarlane (pers. comm.…”

“…) says that there are areas of New Zealand where only single generations are produced during a season despite relatively low altitudes. Donovan and Weir (1978) compared B. terrestris records of maximum number of individuals per nest reported by different investigators in several countries. The largest nests in New Zealand produced nearly 900 queens and 3,000 adults, which is over three times more productive than the European counterparts.…”