Stingless Bees Pollination Increases Fruit Formation of Strawberry (Fragaria x annanassa Duch) and Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Abstract

Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are distributed in tropical and subtropical areas in the world. Stingless bees are potential pollinator to increase yield of various crops species. We measured the pollination effectiveness of stingless bees, i.e., Tetragonula laeviceps in strawberry (Fragaria x annanassa) and Heterotrigona itama in melon (Cucumis melo) in the greenhouse. Pollination effectiveness of stingless bees were measured based on their visiting activities, i.e., foraging rate and flower handling time using focal sampling method. Measurements of fruit set consist of the number of fruits per plant, the number of normal and abnormal fruits, and the size and weight of fruits. Results showed that visiting activity of T. laeviceps in strawberry flowers ranged 2.33–2.73 flowers/3 min, while H. itama in melon flowers ranged 1.77–7.12 flower/3 min. Peak activities of H. itama in melon (7.12 flowers/3 min) occurred at 09.00 a.m.–10.00 a.m., while T. laeviceps in strawberry (2.73 flowers/3 min) occurred at 11.00 a.m.–12.00 a.m. Pollination by T. laeviceps increased 78.9% of fruit formation and reduced 16.7% of abnormal fruits of strawberry. In melon, ratio between female and male flowers was 0.03. The number of fruits produced in melon with T. itama (6.1 fruits/plant) was higher than in open field (2.6 fruits/plant) and control plants (no pollination) (0.2 fruits/plant). Pollination by H. itama increased fruit formation of melon.

The effects of meliponicultural use of Tetragonula laeviceps on other bee pollinators and pollination efficacy of lemon

“…However, the highest foraging activity in Tetragonula pagdeni was at 10:00 in greenhouse conditions ( Wongsa, Duangphakdee & Rattanawannee, 2023 ). Furthermore, several studies reported that at 11:00, T. laeviceps was the visiting mostly strawberry, mango, and orange flowers ( Atmowidi et al, 2022 ; Chuttong et al, 2022 ; Nurdiansyah, Abduh & Permana, 2023 ).…”

“…This issue has prompted several studies on applied bee cultivation in agroecosystems to enhance productivity ( Aslan & Yavuksuz, 2010 ; Nunes-Silva et al, 2013 ; Hall et al, 2020 ; Amon et al, 2023 ). The application of meliponiculture has expanded in tropical regions with enhanced pollination efficacy of 10–70% ( da Silva et al, 2017 ; Azmi et al, 2019 ; Layek, Das & Karmakar, 2022 ; Reddy, Chauhan & Singh, 2022 ; Balaji et al, 2023 ; Wongsa, Duangphakdee & Rattanawannee, 2023 ), particularly in Indonesia with 20–48% ( Putra, Permana & Kinasih, 2014 ; Alpionita, Atmowidi & Kahono, 2021 ; Atmowidi et al, 2022 ; Nurdiansyah, Abduh & Permana, 2023 ).…”

Pollination Efficiency of Apis mellifera and Hypotrigona gribodoi on Capsicum annuum Fruit Set and Yield.

“…They are eusocial insects (Chakuya et al, 2022) belonging to the family Apidae and subfamily Meliponinae. They forage on nectar and pollen enhancing pollination of more than 60% of different commercial crops (Heard, 1999, Atmowidi et al, 2022Ramalho, 2004). Stingless bees have specialized structures called corbicula on their legs (Asiko, 2012) which enable them to e ciently gather and carry pollen.…”

Pollination efficacy of stingless bees, Tetragonula pagdeni Schwarz (Apidae: Meliponini), on greenhouse tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum Linnaeus)

“…In Malaysia, the stingless bee Tetragonula iridipennis was found to be a successful pollinator in cucumber greenhouses ( Mitta et al, 2017 ). Atmowidi et al (2022) investigated the pollination effectiveness of stingless bees of two genera, Tetragonula in strawberry and Heterotrigona in melon, in a greenhouse. Tetragonula increased the number of fruits and quality of strawberries, and Heterotrigona did the same for melons.…”